A Police Executive Research Forum Publication Reporting on Innovative Approaches to Policing

I had previously been networking with four neighborhood watch groups in the Rampart area. Wanting to assess the recycling facility's impact on the local community, I developed a questionnaire and distributed it to the groups leaders, who in turn gave it out to their members. Based on the questionnaire's results, the citizens agreed the center and its related problems created a nuisance for the community. They expressed a tremendous frustration and desire to close the recycling operation. Many residents reported an increased theft of house plants and other items when Ieft in their yards. Transient persons went around the neighborhood and looked through trash containers for glass and cans, and stole aluminum ladders and siding to recycle them for money. They set up sofas and cots in the alley behind the recycling center.