A. Surveying the surveillance effect
B. Listening for trouble

A. Campus police find summer a season of change
B. Summertime not leisure time for police
C. More work can mean more trouble for teens
D. Law prof sees community-oriented policing as beneficial

A. Advice for summer's end in Sydney

Hurley is working with data UC's criminal justice department collected on three surveillance cameras in Cincinnati. "These cameras are being put up blindly, without any understanding of what the effect may be on crime," Hurley says. "No one knows: will a surveillance camera alone be enough to affect crime in a given space, or does it have to be used along with an adjustment in police activities?" Hurley is examining questions such as how far out the camera makes an impact on crime and whether it decreases crime or just moves it to other nearby areas.

Another question of interest to Hurley, a former police officer in Dayton, Ohio, is the effect high-tech solutions like surveillance cameras may have on traditional methods of crime deterrence, such as neighborhood Block Watch programs. "For years, we've advocated things like Block Watch as an informal social control, and now we're introducing a direct formal control by the police. What effect will that have? This is a different trend away from what we've (tried) in the past." contact: 309-438-2729

B. LISTENING FOR TROUBLE
In a similar vein, gunshot detection systems are now being used by some police departments to detect gunfire in urban situations. Random gunfire as a display of celebration in connection with holidays or sporting events is a significant problem in many large U.S. cities. UC's Center for Criminal Justice Research has coordinated a study to examine the operations and effectiveness of two such systems in use in suburban Los Angeles and in Dallas.

The technology is designed to detect the sound of a muzzle blast from a gun and, within seconds of the shot being fired, estimate the location where the shot was fired and alert the police. The study has shown that random gunfire incidents often go unreported by the public (only 23 percent of incidents heard in the study were also reported to police by the public). While the technology is effective in detecting random gunfire, questions remain about whether it will actually help police in their work.

"Police have to be willing to do something with that information. They are left to do the problem-solving," says Jim Frank, UC associate professor of criminal justice and one of the investigators working on the project. contact: 513-556-5832

2. POLICING THE SEASON
A. CAMPUS POLICE FIND SUMMER A SEASON OF CHANGE
It used to be that campus police agencies could count on summer as a time to slow down, regroup and engage in some planning for the upcoming school year. Not any more. UC Police Chief Gene Ferrara calls summer a challenging season for his department and for his colleagues at other campuses around Ohio. "All of the state universities are trying to make the most of the facilities they have during the summer," says Ferrara, who says summer life on UC's campus now is the busiest it has ever been in his 22 years with the university. "There are more people than ever in summer athletic camps, taking seminars or enrolled in summer courses."

That presents its own set of challenges to UC police. Instead of placing a concerted emphasis on crime prevention and awareness issues with students at the beginning of the fall quarter that carries through the rest of the school year, police are faced with new groups coming onto campus every week or two. "We have to teach a lot more about vigilance," Ferrara says. "We're in the training mode all of the time." Since 97 percent of all crime at UC is property crime, UC police emphasize theft avoidance tips with summer visitors. They also have to work at gearing their message to audiences ranging from older adults to elementary-school aged children. In another twist, Kings Island is renting space in a UC dorm to house seasonal workers for the park. It all adds up to a much different set of demands on service for the third-largest police department within Hamilton County. contact: 513-556-4900

B. SUMMERTIME NOT LEISURE TIME FOR POLICE
While most of us view summer as a season of relaxation, socializing and outdoor fun, those very same factors can make it one of the busiest times of the year for police agencies. "Generally, when it is nice out, people are out, and police end up with a lot more of what I'd call order maintenance policing," says Jim Frank, an associate professor of criminal justice at UC who specializes in policing issues.

Frank is co-principal investigator on a National Institute of Justice study that is looking at policing in 21 jurisdictions across southwest Ohio, ranging from urban to rural settings. "You know that people are going to be out, kids are going to be out," Frank says. "Kids are going to be in cars and hanging out. It's busier in part because of the weather and it being light out till 10 o'clock, in part because of the time of year with school being out. That creates situations where you need more regulation of people and more contact with people, and unfortunately, with more and more contact, there becomes a greater likelihood that a problem may arise." contact: 513-556-5832

C. MORE WORK CAN MEAN MORE TROUBLE FOR TEENS
Millions of teenagers are hard at work on summer jobs this summer. While Americans generally view hard work as an admirable experience, research by a pair of UC professors says working too much does have an unexpected downside.

A study by Frank Cullen, Distinguished Research Professor in criminal justice, and Nick Williams, associate professor of economics, found that work of 20 hours per week or more by teenagers makes them more susceptible to getting into trouble with the law. "We're finding the more money they have, the more likely we are to see delinquency among kids," Cullen says. "Those resources they earn, if anything, tend to go towards getting them into trouble." contact: 513-556-5834

D. LAW PROF SEES COMMUNITY-ORIENTED POLICING AS BENEFICIAL
The criminal justice system is working more effectively in part because of an emphasis on community-oriented policing, in the opinion of a UC law professor who teaches criminology. Christo Lassiter, professor of law, says society is enjoying many benefits with wider adoption of community-oriented policing, where officers are a visible, regular presence in neighborhoods instead of "just being called in like the Pizza Hut delivery guy. There's a presence now, and the whole idea is greater reliability and greater trust between police and the community."

Lassiter and his students have looked at community-oriented policing in his criminal procedures course. He says it's effective because it creates a healthier atmosphere in the community. "This is taking us away from a system where we were going through the motions of filling out reports if a car was stolen. We would just phone it in. We had gotten away from the idea it was a crime and making a detection effort."

Community-oriented policing also makes the criminal justice system more effective, Lassiter believes, by creating better linkages between community groups like the Urban League and the police, which in turn helps the police be more effective in doing their jobs. contact: 513-556-0096

3. COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS
A. ADVICE FOR SUMMER'S END IN SYDNEY
As an assistant professor at UC's Clermont College campus, Ed Bridgeman is the head of that college's criminal justice department. But he's also an expert on issues of terrorism. With the culmination of summer this year featuring the Olympic games in Sydney, Australia, he expects terrorists to again be tempted to make their presence known. "Any time you have an event where the whole world is paying attention, like the Olympics, you need to be prepared (for terrorism)," says Bridgeman, who was involved in security efforts for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Somebody will get the idea that this is a good place to wave (their) sign." Bridgeman has compiled a number of tips for Americans to follow who are headed to the Olympics or anywhere overseas. "Terrorists will pick the easiest target, and you have to make sure that isn't you," he says. His tips range from controlling your appearance to how to humanize yourself in the eyes of terrorists to items to have in your carry-on luggage should you be taken hostage.

Examples include dressing business casual for travel, but not blue jeans and a T-shirt (that suggests U.S. military personnel traveling off-duty); "sterilizing" your wallet or purse, leaving in items like family photos and taking out items like fraternal or social IDs and military or patriotic paraphernalia; and avoiding spending excess time in places like airport ticket counters and boarding areas, where an incident is most likely to begin. "The tendency in going to the Olympics is to go and support the Americans, but it's not a good idea to travel with an American T-shirt or red, white and blue hat on. Show yourself as an American only in the stands and always be in what I call "Condition Yellow" at big crowd events at all times." In other words, stay alert but not terrorized by the thought of terrorism. contact: 513-732-5251





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