I wonder why they just don't knock on the door and ask for consent to search for drugs, or any other contraband???
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...eadline=Gun+project+misfire+is+laid+to+police
Gun project misfire is laid to police
By Heather Ratcliffe
Of the Post-Dispatch
12/25/2004
Shortly after a record number of teens were murdered in the streets of St. Louis, police met with residents to talk about ways to get guns away from juveniles.
One woman offered a simple solution.
"Why don't you knock on the door and ask that mother if you could search the house?"
That idea 10 years ago spawned a wildly successful partnership between police and the community that led to the seizure of hundreds of guns from teenagers.
Experts said the innovative program promised to be a prototype for police across the country.
It drew national attention from law enforcement researchers, Congress and the Department of Justice. President Bill Clinton mentioned its success in his weekly radio address.
But within five years of its start in 1994, the Consent-To-Search Program collapsed and disappeared.
When the program began, the justice department hired two professors from the University of Missouri at St. Louis to study the effects of the program on crime. It was one of the largest research grants awarded that year.
Professors Scott Decker and Richard Rosenfeld ended up studying the reasons for the program's demise.
Their report, released last month, criticizes the leadership at the St. Louis police department and its rigidity that couldn't sustain the program. They say these failings, among others, led to the end of a program that so many thought could be a revolution in the war on gun violence.
"Despite the intuitive sense Consent-To-Search made for a city with very high rates of youth violence, the program could not be sustained because of fundamental deficiencies in how it was implemented and maintained," researchers wrote.
Successful beginnings
In 1994, then-St. Louis police Chief Clarence Harmon embraced the idea of the Consent-To-Search Program. He incorporated the program into his gun-recovering agenda, which began with a major buy-back program.
"It was an effort, not just for enforcement, but to use common sense to make the community safer," Harmon said in a recent interview.
Neighbors, relatives and other officers tipped police as to where teens might be hiding guns.
Then police knocked on those doors and asked to search the home. In exchange, police promised parents that their son or daughter would not be prosecuted for possessing a firearm.
In the first year, nearly every parent approached agreed to a search.
"This degree of cooperation is quite remarkable, given the historic pattern of distrust between the police and the black community in St. Louis," the report states.
The Mobile Reserve Unit, which operated the program, searched from five to 30 homes each night. Guns were found in half of them. An average of three guns were seized in each household where they found guns.
In the first year and a half, police seized 510 guns, according to the report.
One parent offered to sign several predated forms so that the police could return at any time. Another wanted to give police a key to her house so they could search while she was at work, according to the report.
"The program demonstrated that people are willing to cooperate," said St. Louis police Sgt. Bob Heimberger, who commanded the program in the 1990s. "These parents didn't want the guns in their homes, but they also didn't want their son or daughter going to jail."
But one month after Harmon resigned as chief in December 1995, his successor, Ron Henderson, suspended the program. The new commander over the unit had never heard of the program when researchers called to discuss it in 1996.
Reinvented program
The department reinstated the program in June 1996, but in a much different form. Police no longer took their cues from the community. They relied on tips from officers and search warrants to get into homes. They also arrested anyone with a gun.
Researchers said the program received little support from citizens and officers within the department. After nine months, police seized only 31 guns with their search warrants.
The program was discontinued, although it officially remained on the books for another year.
In January 1999, then U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd Jr. heard about Consent-To-Search while at a conference in Boston. He was shocked to learn that St. Louis initiated the pilot program and then let it collapse, researchers said.
He helped secure federal funding and revive the effort.
In the program's third phase, the department paid officers overtime to search homes. They again promised nonprosecution to parents who participated. They also formed an alliance with a group of local ministers who promised to offer support to families who were referred by police.
But in this new stage, the department did not renew its relationship with community members.
Instead, officers relied on tips from within the department to lead them to homes with weapons.
The program's success never again matched its first year. Only about half of parents approached agreed to a search. And police seized just 29 guns in the nine months of phase three, according to the report. The program was finally canceled in August 1999 when grant money ran out.
"This phase was heavily police driven, which may account for the much lower level of compliance by parents and guardians," researchers wrote.
Causes of failure
Ultimately, lack of commitment from the police department, community and city leaders led to the program's demise, Decker said.
He and Rosenfeld identified six main reasons why the program failed.
The program lacked commitment from leaders within the department, especially after Harmon's resignation.
Officers resisted the new idea and viewed the program as a "community relations exercise with little impact on crime."
The program was isolated to a single unit instead of being integrated departmentwide.
Officers were given little training and no manual.
Members of the African-American Churches in Dialogue, who promised to offer counseling to struggling parents, did not follow up on referrals from the police department.
The department kept few records that could have helped document the program's effectiveness.
"The Consent-To-Search experience shows that although problem-solving initiatives can be quite effective, they are relatively fragile," researchers wrote.
Harmon and officers who participated in the program agreed with the researchers' observations.
"Institutional change and cultural change that we were attempting is very difficult," Harmon said. "The program didn't feel right for police who are enforcement-driven."
He said he still believes problem-solving initiatives such as Consent-To-Search can have a significant impact on crime.
"One of the key principles is to listen to our own officers as well as the community," Harmon said.
Henderson, who is now the U.S. marshal for eastern Missouri, said he recalls supporting the program. He blames its failure on lack of funding.
"It was a program that I was in favor of," Henderson said. "I knew it was something we liked. The whole idea was to get the guns."
St. Louis police Chief Joseph Mokwa and his commanders are reviewing the recent report and discussing ways to revive Consent-To-Search methods, Heimberger said.
A few officers use the idea in their daily police work. Drug detectives and street officers often ask parents for consent to search their home now, he said. But they do not waive the right to prosecute, Heimberger said.
"I'd like to see some form of (Consent-To-Search) brought back to the department," Heimberger said. "It focuses strategies on people causing the most harm in the community. And it gives the community a chance to give their input."
Reporter Heather Ratcliffe
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 618-659-3637
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...eadline=Gun+project+misfire+is+laid+to+police
Gun project misfire is laid to police
By Heather Ratcliffe
Of the Post-Dispatch
12/25/2004
Shortly after a record number of teens were murdered in the streets of St. Louis, police met with residents to talk about ways to get guns away from juveniles.
One woman offered a simple solution.
"Why don't you knock on the door and ask that mother if you could search the house?"
That idea 10 years ago spawned a wildly successful partnership between police and the community that led to the seizure of hundreds of guns from teenagers.
Experts said the innovative program promised to be a prototype for police across the country.
It drew national attention from law enforcement researchers, Congress and the Department of Justice. President Bill Clinton mentioned its success in his weekly radio address.
But within five years of its start in 1994, the Consent-To-Search Program collapsed and disappeared.
When the program began, the justice department hired two professors from the University of Missouri at St. Louis to study the effects of the program on crime. It was one of the largest research grants awarded that year.
Professors Scott Decker and Richard Rosenfeld ended up studying the reasons for the program's demise.
Their report, released last month, criticizes the leadership at the St. Louis police department and its rigidity that couldn't sustain the program. They say these failings, among others, led to the end of a program that so many thought could be a revolution in the war on gun violence.
"Despite the intuitive sense Consent-To-Search made for a city with very high rates of youth violence, the program could not be sustained because of fundamental deficiencies in how it was implemented and maintained," researchers wrote.
Successful beginnings
In 1994, then-St. Louis police Chief Clarence Harmon embraced the idea of the Consent-To-Search Program. He incorporated the program into his gun-recovering agenda, which began with a major buy-back program.
"It was an effort, not just for enforcement, but to use common sense to make the community safer," Harmon said in a recent interview.
Neighbors, relatives and other officers tipped police as to where teens might be hiding guns.
Then police knocked on those doors and asked to search the home. In exchange, police promised parents that their son or daughter would not be prosecuted for possessing a firearm.
In the first year, nearly every parent approached agreed to a search.
"This degree of cooperation is quite remarkable, given the historic pattern of distrust between the police and the black community in St. Louis," the report states.
The Mobile Reserve Unit, which operated the program, searched from five to 30 homes each night. Guns were found in half of them. An average of three guns were seized in each household where they found guns.
In the first year and a half, police seized 510 guns, according to the report.
One parent offered to sign several predated forms so that the police could return at any time. Another wanted to give police a key to her house so they could search while she was at work, according to the report.
"The program demonstrated that people are willing to cooperate," said St. Louis police Sgt. Bob Heimberger, who commanded the program in the 1990s. "These parents didn't want the guns in their homes, but they also didn't want their son or daughter going to jail."
But one month after Harmon resigned as chief in December 1995, his successor, Ron Henderson, suspended the program. The new commander over the unit had never heard of the program when researchers called to discuss it in 1996.
Reinvented program
The department reinstated the program in June 1996, but in a much different form. Police no longer took their cues from the community. They relied on tips from officers and search warrants to get into homes. They also arrested anyone with a gun.
Researchers said the program received little support from citizens and officers within the department. After nine months, police seized only 31 guns with their search warrants.
The program was discontinued, although it officially remained on the books for another year.
In January 1999, then U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd Jr. heard about Consent-To-Search while at a conference in Boston. He was shocked to learn that St. Louis initiated the pilot program and then let it collapse, researchers said.
He helped secure federal funding and revive the effort.
In the program's third phase, the department paid officers overtime to search homes. They again promised nonprosecution to parents who participated. They also formed an alliance with a group of local ministers who promised to offer support to families who were referred by police.
But in this new stage, the department did not renew its relationship with community members.
Instead, officers relied on tips from within the department to lead them to homes with weapons.
The program's success never again matched its first year. Only about half of parents approached agreed to a search. And police seized just 29 guns in the nine months of phase three, according to the report. The program was finally canceled in August 1999 when grant money ran out.
"This phase was heavily police driven, which may account for the much lower level of compliance by parents and guardians," researchers wrote.
Causes of failure
Ultimately, lack of commitment from the police department, community and city leaders led to the program's demise, Decker said.
He and Rosenfeld identified six main reasons why the program failed.
The program lacked commitment from leaders within the department, especially after Harmon's resignation.
Officers resisted the new idea and viewed the program as a "community relations exercise with little impact on crime."
The program was isolated to a single unit instead of being integrated departmentwide.
Officers were given little training and no manual.
Members of the African-American Churches in Dialogue, who promised to offer counseling to struggling parents, did not follow up on referrals from the police department.
The department kept few records that could have helped document the program's effectiveness.
"The Consent-To-Search experience shows that although problem-solving initiatives can be quite effective, they are relatively fragile," researchers wrote.
Harmon and officers who participated in the program agreed with the researchers' observations.
"Institutional change and cultural change that we were attempting is very difficult," Harmon said. "The program didn't feel right for police who are enforcement-driven."
He said he still believes problem-solving initiatives such as Consent-To-Search can have a significant impact on crime.
"One of the key principles is to listen to our own officers as well as the community," Harmon said.
Henderson, who is now the U.S. marshal for eastern Missouri, said he recalls supporting the program. He blames its failure on lack of funding.
"It was a program that I was in favor of," Henderson said. "I knew it was something we liked. The whole idea was to get the guns."
St. Louis police Chief Joseph Mokwa and his commanders are reviewing the recent report and discussing ways to revive Consent-To-Search methods, Heimberger said.
A few officers use the idea in their daily police work. Drug detectives and street officers often ask parents for consent to search their home now, he said. But they do not waive the right to prosecute, Heimberger said.
"I'd like to see some form of (Consent-To-Search) brought back to the department," Heimberger said. "It focuses strategies on people causing the most harm in the community. And it gives the community a chance to give their input."
Reporter Heather Ratcliffe
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 618-659-3637
