Policing Houston: Reducing Fear and Improving Service

In 1983-1984, the Houston Police Department tested five strategies designed to reduce fear among citizens living in test neighborhoods. This article reports the process by which the programs were designed and implemented, the research methodology used to evaluate them, and the effects of the programs on citizen fear and other attitudes. It also examines the effects of the programs on the officers who designed and implemented them, and reports on the use the Houston department currently is making of the information produced by the evaluation.