Contemporary Approaches for Responding Effectively to Crime and Community-Defined Disorder

CARECDD Feature Image

This web-based training curriculum development initiative, implemented in partnership with the COPS Office, focuses on delivering two self-paced courses that examine the role of law enforcement officers and agencies in developing, implementing, sustaining, and evaluating community-based problem-solving strategies.

Contemporary Approaches for Responding Effectively to Community-Defined Disorder (CARE CDD) includes a course for practitioners and a course for executive-level leaders. Both examine successful initiatives around the country—including homeless outreach teams, mental health crisis intervention, domestic abuse harm reduction, substance use disorder treatment, gang violence prevention, and more—demonstrating a “community care” framework for responding effectively to a variety of disorder and crime problems.

Since launching the courses in 2022, participants include more than 1,125 practitioners representing 460+ agencies in 49 states.

The community caretaker approach to order maintenance

This CARE CDD program is rooted in the understanding that responding to complex problems requires law enforcement to form partnerships with community stakeholders and other agencies to enact multi-faceted initiatives.

Such efforts represent a fundamental change in the way we think about public safety, emphasizing the collaborative role of police and other law enforcement practitioners as caretakers of their communities.

Many types of harm can affect the health of a community—not just the major crime incidents that dominate headlines, but also the everyday disorder problems that negatively impact community members and generate frequent calls for service.

In many cases, past efforts to manage disorder have focused on enforcement actions targeting low-level offenses. However, research and practice indicate that aggressive, enforcement-focused order maintenance strategies are ineffective and can undermine relationships between law enforcement and community members.

National Advisory Board provides insights and guidance

To ensure the relevance and applicability of the curriculum, NCPI established a National Advisory Board of public safety leaders and practitioners.

Their insights and experiences implementing innovative problem-solving strategies within their own organizations provide the foundation of the program content.

The CARE CDD content is field driven, drawing on the knowledge and practical guidance of these and other law enforcement professionals across the country.

Arlington, VA – Arlington Restaurant Initiative (ARI)
Master Police Officer Jim Mastoras

Ashland, VA – Long-Term Residency in Motels and Hotels
Chief Doug Goodman (ret.)

Broward County, FL – Homeless Outreach Team (HOT)
Captain Scott Russell

Chesterfield County, VA – Helping Addicts Recover Progressively (HARP)
Lieutenant Robert Penepacker

Danbury, CT – Officer Wellness and Resiliency
Dr. Edward C. Keane

Durham County, NC – The CHOICES Program
Sheriff Clarence Birkhead

Fresno, CA – Gang Prevention Initiative
Lieutenant Steve Card

Gloucester Township, NJ – 3rd-Gear Policing
Captain Brian McKendry

La Crosse, WI – Domestic Abuse Reduction Team (DART)
Detective Lieutenant Timothy O’Neill

Las Vegas, NV – Center for Crime and Justice Policy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Dr. William H. Sousa

Lewiston, ME – Project Support You
Detective Joseph Philippon

Wichita, KS – Homeless Outreach Team (HOT)
Officer Nathan Schwiethale

Case studies of collaborative and innovative problem-solving strategies

Increasingly, public safety professionals recognize that innovative problem solving is needed to address disorder and crime problems, which occur disproportionately in under-resourced neighborhoods and are often rooted in economic and social inequities.

To help connect principles to practice, the CARE CDD training programs offer a series of field-driven video case briefings that provide insight on strategies that participants can apply in their own communities.

The case studies feature interviews with subject matters experts and practitioners currently engaged in community-oriented programs to manage disorder problems in their jurisdictions.

Self-paced, online training for practitioners and executives

NCPI offers both CARE CDD courses at no cost, to an unlimited number of public safety professionals and their community partners. The courses can be completed anytime, anywhere, based on the demands of your day, in our learning platform, NCPI Connect.

“I enjoyed the whole course. It was on point with what is happening in today’s world. I live in an Alaska rural village. It has a small population of 39 people. Other villages are bigger. We have a small crime rate compared to most. However, I still believe some of the information gathered can be used. I want to get the community to come together with the tribes to put our heads together and make this a better place to feel safe and to live. Thank you for the opportunity to take this course.”

— Course Participant