Communities and Police Collaborate on Website

Police-community relations in crime-ridden urban areas have long been plagued by distrust among cops, residents and neighborhood groups.

This record of disaccord makes a recent project among three Chicago communities and the Chicago Police Department remarkable: a community-friendly website facilitating instant and anonymous communications between residents and police.

The new tool, called CLEARpath (www.chicagopolice.org), was unveiled in July. Three years ago, police began developing a website that would link the department's Citizen and Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting System to anyone with a personal computer.

But police soon realized they couldn’t design the website without the help of its principal users: community residents. When police came looking for CLEARpath partners, residents from the NCP neighborhoods of Little Village, Pilsen and West Haven joined the effort.

"It's about building mutual trust and respect," Jesus Garcia, president of NCP lead agency the Little Village Community Development Corporation. "The neighborhoods aren't going away. The police aren't going away. We have to learn how to get along with each other."

A team of neighborhood representatives created a vision statement and principles for the website. They held meetings in each neighborhood to determine residents' priorities.

"This is not what the police department has handed to you," said Jonathan Lewin, CPD Information Services Commander, to neighborhood leaders. "This is what you and the police department have helped to create. That's what makes this unique."

This article first appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Working Capital, the quarterly newsletter of LISC/Chicago. See the entire issue, or back copies, or see a related article.