ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the effectiveness of an innovative attempt to train neighborhood residents in problem solving. Chicago's model for problem solving certainly is still open to the charge that it "papers over" the fundamental sources of its neighborhoods' problems-sources that include poverty and racism. Problem solving is a new orientation toward policing, and both police and neighborhood residents need to be "retooled" before they can be very effective at it. The chapter outlines the model—how problem-solving policing in Chicago was intended to work. In Chicago's problem-solving model, single incidents are viewed in relation to how they fit together with others. Chicago adopted its problem-solving model because it seemed to speak to some of the major issues facing the city, including concern about crime and city life, and dissatisfaction with police service. Chicagoans were also afraid, and that fear threatened to translate into further troubles for the city.
