[1][2] The original five districts, characterized by high crime rates[3][4][5] and cases of extreme poverty,[6] provided the Chicago Police Department with an initial benchmark from which to determine the program's strengths and weaknesses.
[8] The program's motto, "Together We Can," emphasizes the need for increased lines of communication between the community and the police, so that together they could come up with solutions for chronic neighborhood problems.
The implementation includes five strategies: problem-solving, turf orientation, community involvement, linkage to city services, and new tools for police.
Other features of the implementation strategy include support from other government agencies, enhanced training, computerized crime analysis, updated marketing and communications techniques, stricter and more quantitative evaluation metrics, and long-term strategic planning.
Between 1995 and 1997, most of the police force in Chicago in addition to 10,000 civilians received training to aid their ability to recognize hotbeds of crime and understand how such areas come to be in an effort to prevent more from arising.
Increased rapid response teams unattached to a specific beat combined with improved methods of communication and technology allowed for a more efficient strategy.
CAPS related activism includes marches, rallies, prayer vigils, and smoke-outs (group barbecue at gang or drug-infested sites).
[13][8] In 2000, the United States Department of Justice found that beat meeting attendance rose steadily with levels of civic engagement, rising to more than 40% among residents involved in at least three kinds of local organizations.
[15] For instance, an interagency database was created to provide access to all city employees regarding crime areas, high-profile criminals, and even police activity.
New crime-mapping software was developed to encourage the routine distribution of crime-related data to both the public and those who regularly attended beat meetings.
Additionally, local prosecutors and county attorneys placed a greater emphasis on cooperation with the CAPS in order to prevent reoccurring offenses.
[17] This strategy, coupled with attrition shorts from under-staffing the police department, may result in officers spending most of their day off the beat.
Individual residents meet with their beat officers and other police personnel to discuss neighborhood problems and hopefully develop strategies to address them.
A 2004 Northwestern University report, Caps at Ten, claimed that many members were frustrated with their ill-defined mandates, leadership problems, and inaction.
In comparison, what were deemed "low-capacity" areas held a more diverse population with little interest in the community as much of the people were renters who lived there for under 5 years.
The areas tended to have high concentration of crime and leadership was much less likely to implement problem-solving and community techniques leading to complete failure.
[30] In January 2013, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Police chief Garry McCarthy pledged to revitalize the CAPS program.
Though these efforts have been responses to public criticisms, Jesse Jackson spoke out against the measures, arguing that these technological improvements do not resolve the reasons that people commit crimes in the first place.
An assessment conducted ten years after implementation of CAPS found that between 1993 and 2000, public perceptions of police effectiveness increased steadily until eventually leveling off in 2000.
After providing the police with numerous tips and detailed information regarding drug houses, she claims that nothing was ever done to remedy these issues within her community.
Four out of the five Chicago Police districts throughout which the program was initially tested in 1993 are characterized by a majority African-American population and high crime rates, backing the claim that little was done within these communities to curb illegal activities.
Another report conducted by Northwestern University found that, after ten years of CAPS' implementation, both white and African-American residents felt a decreased fear of crime in their area.
[34] In order to do so, it opened an online source for residents to send information through will hold three separate town hall meetings during the month of April.