Same Cop Same Neighborhood (SC/SN) is one of the cornerstones of Commissioner Evans' commitment to the effective delivery of public safety services to every neighborhood in Boston. Under SC/SN, the same beat officers are assigned to a neighborhood beat, and will spend no less than 60% of their shift in that designated beat. The intent of SC/SN is to encourage officers to do more street level problem- solving. Using principles of shared accountability and ownership for what happens in their designated areas is already helping officers to promote increased coordination among units within the Department as well as with the community as a whole.

Although this basic concept sounds straightforward, implementing SC/SN has required fundamental changes in the way the Boston Police Department operates internally and delivers public safety services to citizens throughout Boston. It has also required basic changes in attitude from the cop on the beat to the highest command levels. Work processes and reporting procedures have been redesigned, and new uses are being created for technology. These changes have also created a mandate for important shifts in the assignment and deployment of personnel.

Several important techniques have been identified as particularly effective in promoting its success thus far, including:

• reconfiguring boundaries for police districts and sectors
• training and education sessions with supervisory personnel
• identification of potential road blocks and suggestions on how to avoid them by middle managers
• An ongoing dialogue about implementation issues, with assistance from the Boston Management Consortium.

As a result of this new management approach, beat officers are developing their own individual partner- ships with members of their neighborhoods through attendance at community meetings and participation in a growing variety of neighborhood activities and events. This new approach has already won the 1997 Boston City Excellence - Managing for Safer Neighborhoods Award, and has been a useful tool in helping to bring the City of Boston to its lowest level of overall crime in 29 years. Perhaps most importantly, it is also helping officers to gain a greater familiarity with the areas they work in, and is giving them a renewed sense of ownership and participation in the positive outcomes they help to generate for the citizens they serve.