Lanier To Focus On Crime Hot Spots
Community Policing, Collaboration Stressed

By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 27, 2006

Cathy L. Lanier, chosen last week to lead the D.C. police force, said she plans to use "precision patrol teams" to reduce crime in certain parts of the city, focusing on the places and times when criminals are most apt to strike.

The patrols are part of a broader community policing strategy that Lanier hopes to push as head of the 3,800-member department. In an interview, she said she intends to give more authority to commanders and beat officers to customize their own crime-fighting programs.

Targeted patrols have been used by police departments for years to combat spikes in crime. D.C. police have more than a dozen hot spots that get increased attention -- although not to the degree that Lanier is proposing. She created a model in 2002 when she was commander of the 4th Police District in upper Northwest and Northeast Washington. It reduced crime there, she said, and could have an impact citywide.

The precision patrol teams focus on crime hot spots and the "hot times" in which they occur, Lanier said. In the model Lanier used, officers blanketed areas in marked police cars with flashing lights to maximize visibility. The hot spots were relatively small -- about six square blocks each. But they were accounting for large shares of robberies, burglaries, vehicle thefts and other crimes. Crime dipped within 90 days, she said.

"What will make or break this is engaging the people who have to carry it out and engaging the people who have to live with it," Lanier said.

Lanier, 39, a 16-year force veteran, was selected by Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty (D) to replace Charles H. Ramsey in a job that is often a lightning rod for criticism and complaints. A protege of Ramsey's, she said she plans to build on his successes in reducing crime while making the department more responsive to residents. If confirmed by the D.C. Council, Lanier would become chief in January, soon after Fenty takes office.

"With community policing, there is not one template you can implement across the city," Lanier said in the interview last week. "Every neighborhood is different."

Lanier, who was offered the position by Fenty earlier this month, said she still is crafting her plans and provided few details about how the precision patrols will work. She has not yet assembled her command team.

She said that she wants to put more officers on the streets, but not necessarily by increasing the size of the force. First she wants to explore increasing efficiency. But in any event, she said, the police must do more: be more visible on the streets, address neighborhood concerns in all parts of the city and simply be more polite to the public.

"I want us to be innovative," she said. "I want us to change the way we do this to mirror a successful business."

Lanier most recently headed the force's homeland security division, a subject in which she holds a master's degree. But she has more than a decade of experience in patrol work, including stretches as an officer in the 6th District and as a commander in the 4th District.

She said she plans to rely on district commanders and officers to develop their own plans for dealing with disparate needs. Beat officers will get more freedom to work directly with residents and solve the problems they face -- a hallmark of community policing.

Some neighborhoods, especially those with an active night life, need a heavy presence of foot patrols at midnight. Others, mostly residential areas, need less, she said.

Residents in some high-crime neighborhoods have welcomed emergency tactics, including the occasional use of klieg lights to illuminate streets. People in other areas find the lights a nuisance and offensive, she said.

Wherever they are, Lanier said, police must be attuned to the people they serve. People walking into police stations should be greeted by someone who is polite and helpful, she said. Neighbors worried about yellow crime tape on their block should be able to get an answer from officers about what is happening there, Lanier said.

Fenty crisscrossed the city for two years before his election as mayor, listening to residents who at times fumed about crime, fear and their frustrations with police. Throughout the mayoral campaign, he touted his public safety fix: better community policing. He met Lanier while serving as the council member for Ward 4 and believed she shared his vision.

"Community policing" is a decades-old concept that has a broad meaning of building bridges to people and increasing police presence.

"Community policing has become a motherhood, apple pie catchphrase," said Brian Forst, a professor of criminal justice at American University. "It means different things in different places. If you look in New York City, it means arresting the turnstile jumpers. In Seattle it means bringing back Officer Friendly."

Lanier's talk of viewing the police force as a business is a staple of community policing, Forst said. "Managers have to manage by walking around; they have to get to know the customer," Forst said, and police must do the same.

In Washington, officials have been promoting community policing since before Ramsey arrived in 1998. The city has more than 40 Police Service Areas, each with teams of officers who are expected to know community members and their concerns.

Lanier said she wants to "go to the next level" and cited her experience with the precision patrol teams as an example.

Neighborhood activist Sara Green, who lives in Takoma Park, said she thought Lanier did a fine job when she headed the 4th District, from 2000 to 2002. But Green wished she had stayed longer, saying the district has had too much turnover.

"I thought she was a real human being, as opposed to someone in a uniform who walked a bureaucratic line," Green said. "Some of these top police are very military. You have a feeling that no matter what your human problem is, they are long past an understanding of it."

Andrew Karmen, a criminologist and sociology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said Lanier's goals seem attuned to victims' concerns. Karmen, who has written books about crime and victimology, said victims want police to show up quickly when they call, to be treated with sensitivity, for their case to be solved and for police to be transparent about what they're doing.

Lanier said she hopes to make better use of community resources and tap into local universities to have academics study police procedures. As with Ramsey, she wants to push officers to continue their educations, as she did in her own career.

She credited Ramsey for moving the department forward and said she will make her own imprint. "I think everything he's done is great," she said. "But I want to do things differently."