LO C A L I N I T I AT I V E S S U P P O RT C O R P O R AT I O N

2006 MetLife Foundation

Community-Police
Partnership Awards

community safety case book

MetLife Foundation
COMMUNITY SAFETY INITIATIVE (CSI)
CSI builds formal, long-term partnerships between
community economic development corporations,
police departments, and other key stakeholders in
troubled neighborhoods. The partners work creates
strong, stable and healthy communities by reducing
persistent crime, disorder and fear, and implementing
economic and community revitalization projects.
LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT
CORPORATION (LISC)
LISC is the nation’s leading community development
support organization. Since 1980, it has provided
grants, loans and business expertise to community
development corporations from one end of the country
to the other. In that time, LISC has raised $6.5 billion
from the private sector to invest in community
development initiatives, helping 2,400 groups develop
161,000 homes and 25 million square feet of
commercial and community space. LISC established
CSI in 1994 to help neighborhood groups develop
alliances with police departments to combat
persistent crime and disorder problems. To learn more
about LISC, visit www.lisc.org.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We gratefully acknowledge Sibyl Jacobson and April
Hawkins of MetLife Foundation for their continued
support of the Community Safety Initiative and strong
dedication to public safety partnerships around the
country. Under their leadership, the MetLife
Foundation has made possible a fifth year of this
unique awards program as well as the publication of
several in-depth papers highlighting themes that cut
across many of our past award winners' work.
We would like to also thank the police chiefs and
community development leaders who participated in
the awards process as application readers: Jim
Bueermann, Edward F. Davis III, Charles A. Gruber, Bill
Jones and Tom Lattimore.

METLIFE FOUNDATION
MetLife Foundation, established by MetLife in 1976, is
a long-time supporter of LISC’s community
revitalization programs. In 1994, the Foundation made
a $1 million grant to the organization to pilot the CSI.
MetLife and the Foundation also have made below-
market rate loans of over $67.1 million to the
organization. MetLife Foundation supports health, The authors and publishers are solely responsible for
education, civic and cultural programs throughout the the accuracy of the statements and interpretations
United States. For more information about the contained herein. Such interpretations do not
Foundation, visit www.metlife.org. necessarily reflect the views of the MetLife Foundation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Awards ...................................................1

CASE STUDIES

FIRST PLACE WINNERS

Urban Edge Public Safety Services
Boston, Massachusetts ..........................................3

Barton Street Neighborhood Revitalization Project

Pawtucket, Rhode Island ........................................9

SECOND PLACE WINNERS

Fergus Street HomeOwnership Project
Cincinnati, Ohio ....................................................14

Riviera Beach Weed & Seed

Riviera Beach, Florida ...........................................20

THIRD PLACE WINNERS

South Bay Community Services
Chula Vista, California ..........................................24

Syracuse United Neighbors Crime Committee

Syracuse, New York ..............................................28
LISC COMMUNITY SAFETY INITIATIVE &
THE COMMUNITY-POLICE PARTNERSHIP AWARDS
M
etLife Foundation and the Local Initiatives
Support Corporation (LISC) partner to
recognize, sustain and share the work of
innovative partnerships between community groups
and police to promote neighborhood safety and
revitalization. Through this awards program, MetLife
Foundation and LISC identify and honor collaborations
that exhibit tangible accomplishments in their efforts
to advance the process, outcome, and/or evaluation of
potent police-community collaborations.
MetLife Foundation funding for the Community-Police
Partnership Awards is another step in the Foundation’s
long-standing relationship with LISC and the
Community Safety Initiative (CSI). Originally
implemented as a two-site demonstration in 1994, the
Community Safety Initiative promotes strategic
alliances between community developers, law
enforcement and other key stakeholders in troubled
neighborhoods. The partners’ work creates strong,
stable and healthy communities by reducing persistent
crime and disorder and spurring economic investment.
The Foundation’s generous support has significantly
advanced the evolution of comprehensive community-
based public safety endeavors. Together with public
funding, the MetLife Foundation’s support has enabled
LISC and CSI to design an initiative that simultaneously
supports site work, helps create an environment in
which that work is encouraged, and celebrates the
results of that work. The awards have also provided the
CSI staff a means to perform extensive outreach and
identify exemplary work by practitioners outside their
traditional network. CSI staff take advantage of this
expanded network to fulfill the ultimate goal of these
awards: sharing information and lessons learned with
the broadest possible audience of practitioners (in
both the community development and public safety
industries), educators, policymakers, funders, and the
media.
THE 2006 AWARDS
The MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnerships
Awards continue to yield new benefits to communities
across the country each year, most notably by raising
awareness about the importance of integrated
community safety strategies and by promoting
replication of effective approaches. Nearly 200
community organizations and police departments
across the country applied for the Awards in 2006,
seeking to demonstrate excellence in community
safety programming. The high quality of the applicants
1
demonstrates that community-police collaborations
remain critical to the revitalization of communities,
perhaps even more so as public resources for
community development and law enforcement decline.
A corollary benefit of the Awards is that they have
created a growing network of practitioners who now
learn from each other and from CSI sites around the
country through publications, webcasts and other
events that build on the award themes. This ongoing
cross-site learning—and the financial resources that
the Awards have leveraged for winning partnerships
and similar programs—have underscored the
important role that this program and MetLife
Foundation play in advancing the community
development and criminal justice industries.
While the scope of each initiative was quite different,
the six award-winning projects all shared a
fundamental strategy of partnering community
developers with police to achieve both short- and long-
term crime reduction and revitalization goals. Each
case study in this book highlights the innovative
program components and tangible accomplishments of
the six award winners.
“The winning partnerships of the 2006 Awards have
each demonstrated how public safety can be a
catalyst for creating healthy neighborhoods—places
where we would all be proud to live, work and do
business. CSI applauds the creative, integrated
strategies of these winners. We look forward to
promoting replication of their approaches in other
communities around the country.”
Julia Ryan
Program Director
LISC Community Safety Initiative
APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCESS
Nearly 200 applicants from around the country
participated in the awards process. The primary
applicants were member organizations of partnerships
that included, but were not limited to, community
development corporations and police departments.
Other eligible candidates included community-based
organizations, community partnerships, Weed & Seed
programs, and collaborations comprising more than
one of these elements.
Interested applicants were invited to complete and
submit a brief (3-page) preliminary narrative in
response to an initial RFP. The submissions were
divided amongst members of an award committee that
included CSI staff and consultants, MetLife Foundation
staff, Chiefs of Police, and CDC directors. Award
committee members reviewed these submissions
against 10 criteria (listed below). CSI staff then
requested more detailed proposals from 37
outstanding projects. Committee members reviewed
these proposals against the same 10 criteria. Each
application was read by multiple members. Final
decisions were made in Spring 2006. The awardees
received unrestricted monetary grants ranging from
$10,000-$25,000 and were celebrated at press events
in each city.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Relevance
n The public safety-community development focus,
strategy and accomplishments of this partnership
clearly reflect the objectives, strategies and
achievements of the Community Safety Initiative.
Process
n The applicant demonstrates that the key/relevant
stakeholders for this project/program were
appropriately and actively involved.
n The applicant shows that the collaborative effort
had an organizational development and/or
capacity building benefit for the collaborators.
n The applicant illustrates the partnership’s creativity
and success in overcoming challenges such as
personnel changes and institutional barriers that
afflict any sustained and seriously interactive
partnership.
Achievement
n This applicant demonstrates tangible and
significant accomplishments in the promotion of
public safety and that these accomplishments
exceed progress realized in non-target areas.
n This applicant demonstrates tangible and
significant accomplishments in the area of
community and economic development including
2
success in attracting enhanced investment in
traditionally underserved neighborhoods.
n The public safety and development outcomes
noted in the application were achieved because of
the capacities and contributions of the
collaborators and reflect an intentional integration
of the pursuits of neighborhood safety and
community/economic development.
n The applicant has the capacity and a realistic
strategy for the achievement of enumerated future
program goals.
Teaching Value
n The program or project is described in a manner
that has instructive value for others in illustrating
the core CSI strategy and its potential to revitalize
communities and protect them from crime,
disorder, and fear.
n The program is replicable elsewhere. Relevant
information will include a clear articulation of the
applicant’s strategy, the principles on which that
strategy is based, an assessment of the
ingredients of success in the partnership, and a
discussion of the transferability of those elements
to other places. Replication requires lessons
learned about what worked, what did not—and
under what conditions.
“MetLife Foundation is committed to building
healthy communities and recognizes that crime is
one of the greatest threats to the economic and
social health of neighborhoods. We are pleased to
join LISC in recognizing the six partnerships for
breaking down the silos that can exist between
communities and police and achieving tangible
improvements in safety, housing and overall quality
of life.”
Sibyl Jacobson,
President and CEO
MetLife Foundation
SYRACUSE UNITED NEIGHBORS CRIME COMMITTEE
Syracuse, New York
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN) is a grassroots
community organization that has been working to
improve the quality of life for residents on the south,
southwest and near-west sides of Syracuse, N.Y. for
more than 26 years. SUN’s neighborhoods have
struggled with crime and violence for much of this
time, ranging from property maintenance violations to
drug activity to gun violence. In a 1998 study
conducted by Syracuse University, five of the ten
census tracts rated as “worst” for criminal activity and
property conditions throughout the city overlapped
with SUN neighborhoods.
SUN believes that the key to combating crime is to
increase the number of residents committed to
improving their neighborhoods, and to connect those
residents in productive partnerships with police.
Today over 350 families are dues paying members of
SUN—one out of every five homeowners in SUN
neighborhoods. “Our initial focus was providing
affordable housing but the leadership realized very
early on that reducing crime was an integral part of the
equation. It has become one of the main reasons many
residents have gotten involved,” said Phil Prehn, SUN
Organizer.
The organization is made up of four neighborhood
groups, each of which hold a monthly public meeting
to deal with issues such as crime, housing, city
services and bank lending. After becoming chief of the
Syracuse Police Department in May of 2005, Gary
Miguel recommitted the department to a prior
agreement that places a police officer at each of the
groups’ monthly meetings. This has created a forum in
which police and residents communicate about crime
issues and brainstorm joint solutions. This partnership
is enhanced by the SUN Crime Committee, a group of
residents, police officers, and representatives from
other city and non-profit agencies whose mission is to
together develop and implement programs to address
crime and violence. As a result of these efforts, crime
in SUN’s target neighborhoods is decreasing and
residents are actively involved in the crime reduction
process with their police partners.
NEIGHBORHOOD BACKGROUND
The south, southwest and near-west sides of Syracuse
are largely residential neighborhoods where working
class families once raised children in largely single-
and dual-family homes without significant fear of
crime. Over the years, hard times took their toll as
poorly maintained properties and vacant buildings
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became the norm on many blocks. The neighborhoods
became known for youth gangs who sold drugs and
defended their turf with guns—creating cycles of
violence and tragedy that have touched so many
families in SUN’s neighborhoods. In 2002, Syracuse
had the 23 murders, the highest annual number in
recent memory. Most of these murders were gang
related and a majority occurred in SUN
neighborhoods.
The pervasive violence poses a significant challenge
for SUN, as many residents are fearful for their safety
and have become virtual prisoners in their homes.
Retaliation by gang members is a major concern for
residents and this fear often serves as a barrier to
citizen involvement. Over the years, many residents
felt that police were not addressing the problems
adequately, and a lack of trust created yet another
roadblock to collaborative efforts to improve safety.
SUN and the Syracuse Police Department have made
notables strides in overcoming these challenges, with
limited staff and many volunteers taking on one
project at a time to reclaim their neighborhoods.
PROGRAM STRATEGY & ACTIVITY
Coordinated Resource Deployment
SUN’s philosophy is that the most effective way to
improve neighborhood conditions is to have the
tangible support and involvement of residents aligned
with the various resources available for community
improvement. It was with this in mind that they
organized residents into four neighborhood groups
and formed the SUN Crime Committee with
representatives from each group. The goal of the Crime
Committee is to work in partnership with the Syracuse
Police Department, the Division of Code Enforcement,
the Department of Community Development and other
city and non-profit agencies to identify priority
problems and coordinate strategic responses to them.
It is as a facilitator in this context that SUN has
experienced some of its greatest successes in exacting
change in its neighborhoods.
One example took shape in June of 2005, when
residents of the Midland/Lincoln Avenue
neighborhood took Deputy Police Chief Frank Fowler
on a tour of a series of vacant houses and overgrowth
that they called “The Crack Trail.” The area was used to
both sell and use crack cocaine, making it both
unattractive and unsafe for residents. The Deputy
Chief and the residents took the problem to the Crime
Committee, where participants analyzed the complex
factors involved and crafted solutions. One month
HOT SPOT CARDS: A STRATEGY TO INCREASE CRIME REPORTING
SUN developed its Hot Spot Card program as way for people to get involved in crime reduction without the fear of
reprisal from criminals. If residents feel uncomfortable calling 911 when they witness illegal activity, they have the
option of filling out a Hot Spot card with key information. They can mail the completed cards to SUN or drop them
off at the office. SUN faxes the cards to the Syracuse Police Department’s Special Investigations Division upon
receipt, where they are then used to track crime trends and inform resource deployment decisions.

At an October 2003 meeting of SUN’s Westside Coalition, assistant U.S. Attorney John Katko raved about the
information provided to drug agents through Hot Spot Cards. He noted that SUN’s efforts in this area had played
a major role in helping make the case against a major cocaine and heroin ring that operated out of a corner store.
SUN also keeps a copy of the cards and reviews them annually with police to determine and verify where “crime
hot spots” are in their neighborhoods. These areas are prioritized for intervention by SUN and fellow members of
the Crime Committee.

later, 35 city workers spent three days cutting down
trees and overgrowth, due largely to the priority
assigned to the area by the Police Department’s
Ordinance Enforcement Division and the Department
of Public Works. The Division of Code Enforcement
secured the vacant houses and prioritized several for
demolition.
The trail was effectively eradicated, with ongoing
support from the police who continue to patrol the
area. SUN is currently working with Jubilee Homes, a
non-profit housing developer, and the Department of
Community Development to redevelop the properties
on and around the old trail to ensure that the
improvements are sustainable.
Pursuing Stronger Public Safety Policies
The Crime Committee has also identified a number of
ways that city ordinances and policies could be more
effective tools for police and residents seeking to
make neighborhoods safe. As a result of the organizing
and advocacy efforts of SUN and its partners on the
Crime Committee, new Syracuse ordinances include a
law to tow junk cars used to stash drugs and guns; a
nuisance abatement law for houses with drugs,
weapons and prostitution; and a Certificate of Use
business license for corner stores and bars.
SUN pursued the business license rule when an
informal inventory revealed that much of crime in SUN
neighborhoods was occurring in and around corner
stores. Many owners were not motivated
to look for solutions, as the perpetrators
comprised their main clientele for
products such as food, drinks and drug
paraphernalia. Because these business
transactions were legal, police had no
choice but to limit their interventions to
enforcement of illegal activity around the
stores which was largely effective only in
the short-term.

SUN and its police partners researched

legislation passed in Rochester to deal
with similar issues and recommended a
similar model to the Syracuse City Council
and Mayor’s office. After a year of
education and advocacy, the ordinance
passed unanimously. It required corner
stores, bars, restaurants and drug stores
to maintain an operations certificate and
comply with regular inspections of their
property and surrounding activity.
Inspection violations—including trash
and debris code violations, gunshots in
the vicinity and loitering—can lead to a
store’s certificate being revoked. The store
SUN members tour the “Crack Trail” prior to a multi-agency effort yielding a major owner is called into court if there are too
clean-up of the area. many violations and can be ordered to

29
close for up to one year if problems are not remedied.
This gave residents and police a tool by which to hold
negligent store owners responsible for the criminal
activity that they facilitated. It also provided an
incentive for business owners to work with police and
community members to change their practices.
Encouraging Safe Community Engagement
Other SUN efforts have focused on empowering
residents to partner with police and take control of the
safety of their own neighborhoods. In neighborhoods
with severe drug crime issues, SUN convenes private
and confidential meetings with concerned area
residents and members of the police Neighborhood
Anti-Crime Squad (NACS). Neighbors provide detailed
information on drug operations and the NACS team
does undercover “buy and bust” details in the area. In
SUN Organizer Phil Prehn, Syracuse Police Chief Gary Miguel and partners from the housing non-profit, SUN refers area
Department of Public Works have been important leaders in the crime committee residents to homebuyer education classes
and its community safety efforts.
the summer of 2004, one such meeting with residents
on Midland Ave. resulted in officers using the unrented
upstairs apartment of a SUN member’s home to
observe drug activity around a problem corner store.
In less than a month, the police made over 20 arrests
and the ownership of the store changed hands when
code enforcement, at SUN’s behest, cited the store for
many violations.
In 2004, SUN successfully campaigned for changes to
the administration of the city’s Nuisance Abatement
law, allowing neighborhood residents to testify at
Nuisance Abatement hearings on potential penalties
for drug houses. SUN helped to draft a Neighborhood
Impact Statement form that residents surrounding the
accused drug property can submit to the City in
advance of the hearing. In addition, residents can
testify at the hearing itself. These measures have given
residents a voice in enforcement that previously was
30
not heard. It has also boosted morale among police
officers by supporting their enforcement efforts and
facilitating more long-term solutions.
Securing Vacant Housing
SUN works with the Division of Code Enforcement to
identify vacant houses in its neighborhoods and to
ensure that these houses are secured. Vacant houses
are often used to stash drugs and can be a haven for
dealers, squatters and graffiti. SUN has negotiated
agreements with both the City of Syracuse and the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to
secure the windows and doors on the basement and
first floor levels of vacant houses in SUN’s
neighborhoods using fitted plywood and screws.
In addition, SUN helps the Division identify vacant
houses that should be demolished. Every other
month, the Law Department submits a
docket of long-term vacant houses to state
court. In these proceedings, Judge James
Tormey pressures the owners to either
submit a plan for rehabilitation or issues an
order of demolition. SUN sends letters on
the merits of the various houses and
organizes residents to attend hearings of
houses that are of special concern.
Increasing Access to Affordable Housing
While it is not a development organization
itself, SUN works with a number of housing
organizations and real estate development
partners to ensure that problem properties
are transformed into safe and attractive
homes, and that families can find stable and
secure housing. In a partnership with Home
Headquarters (HHQ), the area’s largest
and helps them fill out applications for
home improvement loan programs. It was
SUN’s advocacy that convinced the city to fund a HHQ
counseling program to prevent the loss of current
homeowners to bank foreclosure. The program
combines budget counseling with loan renegotiation
to help families emerge from default and remain in
their homes. SUN refers families to this program and
has two members who serve on the program’s advisory
board.
SUN also works closely with programs that build new
homes and manage affordable apartments such as
Empire Housing, Syracuse Model Neighborhood
Corporation and Jubilee Homes. In addition to
promoting the programs offered by these
organizations and referring families, SUN works with
the groups to draft plans to develop parts of their
neighborhoods that have suffered from demolished
and deteriorated housing stock. SUN also collaborates
with the Department of Community Development to
ensure that problem properties—including those that
have gone through foreclosure—are sold at
reasonable terms to non-profits that are positioned to
renovate them into quality affordable housing.
Using Asset Forfeiture to Build Community
In similar efforts, SUN has take advantage of federal
asset forfeiture laws to see that properties used as
drug havens are reclaimed for redevelopment or use
by qualified community groups. SUN’s first work in this
area started in 1997, when it helped ensure that a
former drug house was handed over to a local housing
non-profit, Syracuse Model Neighborhood
Corporation. The Neighborhood Corporation
renovated the house and transferred it to the
Southwest Community Center, which now uses it as a
respite facility for parents with severely disabled
children. The children stay for a weekend at the
property, under the watchful eye of trained staff, while
their parents get some time for rest and recovery.
A second SUN-facilitated transfer involved a corner
store that turned out to be at the center of a major
drug ring that moved heroin and cocaine from New
York City to Syracuse. It was estimated that the
operation was netting over $500,000 a week when law
enforcement succeeded in breaking it up in May 2003.
SUN’s Westside Coalition presented a proposal to the
U.S. Attorney’s office to transfer the corner store
building to the Syracuse Police Department for use as
a community policing substation. In December 2004,
then Police Chief Steven Thompson committed to the
police department using the store as a substation,
which opened following renovations in
October 2006. The new substation will
enable the police to have more of a presence
in the community, as well as provide more
community-police interaction.
being reviewed in Nuisance Abatement hearings
received the maximum penalty, due largely to SUN’s
efforts to organize residents to testify about the
detrimental effects of the drug activity in and around
the properties. Other landlords were ordered to evict
drug dealers and improve property maintenance to
deter illegal activity. Other evidence of crime reduction
includes the calming of many corner store hot spots—
some of which were sites of regular loitering, drug
dealing and shots fired—as a result of the ordinance
passed as a result of SUN’s efforts and other
collaboration with the Syracuse Police Department.
While drug activity and violence has not ceased
entirely, SUN and its partners agree that they have
seen great improvements, and now have strong
partnerships in place to respond to new challenges as
they arise.
The relationship between SUN and the Syracuse Police
Department has also formed into a strong and
productive collaboration. According to Phil Prehn, “The
relationship has always been very cordial but at the
current time it is the best it’s ever been. Both sides
now see that each has the best interest of the
neighborhood at heart.” SUN has found over the years
that the Chief is a very important part of the equation
as his/her actions resonate quickly down the line. The
current Chief is very active and supportive of SUN’s
work and this outlook passes quickly to his
subordinates. In its day-to-day work, SUN collaborates
with individual officers in problem-solving and
implementation of joint interventions to reduce crime.

PROGRAM IMPACT
Overcoming the problems of SUN’s
neighborhoods has required intense and
sustained citizen action, productive alliances
with police and innovative corralling of
advocacy and economic development
resources. By serving as a facilitator and
coordinator of many such efforts, SUN has
achieved substantial victories in reducing
crime and improving neighborhood quality of
life.

Public Safety Impact

From the eradication of the “Crack Trail” to
the abatement of problem properties, SUN
and its police partners have made great
strides in reducing drug crime and other
criminal activity in the neighborhood. In Vacant properties in SUN neighborhoods provided a haven for crime until SUN
2005 alone, five of 15 nuisance properties pursued a variety of abatement and redevelopment projects.

31
Community Building and Development Impact
SUN has also facilitated significant redevelopment of WINNING PROGRAM
properties in its neighborhoods through partnerships
Syracuse United Neighbors Crime Committee
with city agencies and non-profit real estate
developers. SUN’s advocacy around vacant and seized
buildings has yielded greater affordable housing APPLICANT
access in the neighborhood, as well as new community Syracuse United Neighbors Crime Committee
space and facilities for police. SUN is currently working
Syracuse Police Department
with Home Headquarters to secure financing to
rehabilitate 15 owner-occupied houses, remove any
lead hazards and provide an energy audit to increase TARGET AREA
energy efficiency. SUN will work to promote the South, southwest and near-west neighborhoods
program and identify current residents that would be Syracuse, NY
eligible to receive funding. HHQ would manage the
physical rehabilitation of the houses and payment of
contractors. INCEPTION DATE
1978
The work that SUN has done over the past three
decades, and particularly the work of the SUN Crime
KEY PARTNERS
Committee, has gone a long way in improving Syracuse
Syracuse Police Department
neighborhoods. Residents are becoming more
Syracuse Common Council Public Safety Committee
involved, homeownership is increasing, vacant
Syracuse Department of Community Development
properties are decreasing and the value of SUN’s
Syracuse Division of Code Enforcement
efforts are reaffirmed with each new member that joins
Home Headquarters
the organization.
Jubilee Homes
Syracuse Model Neighborhood Corporation

COMMUNITY CONTACT
Phil Prehn, Director of Organizing
Syracuse United Neighbors
1540 S. Salina Street
Syracuse, NY 13205
Phone: 315-476-7475
Email: sun@sunaction.org

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LO C A L I N I T I AT I V E S S U P P O RT C O R P O R AT I O N For more information on the
Community Safety Initiative
or to receive future mailings regarding the
501 Seventh Avenue, 7th Floor
MetLife Foundation
New York, NY 10018 Community-Police Partnership Awards,
212-455-9800 please send an e-mail to csi@lisc.org
www.lisc.org