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USF’s Community Sustainability Partnership Program (CSPP) Teams Up With Palmetto Police Department
The Department of Criminology Graduate students, Dr. Ráchael Powers, and Chief of
Police, Scott Tyler
Dr. Ráchael Powers and her graduate class in Criminology presented the findings of their research on perceptions of and experiences with the Palmetto Police Department. In attendance was the Chief of Police, Scott Tyler, and Director of Palmetto's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), Jeff Burton. The graduate students have been participating in a semester long project as part of USF's inaugural Community Sustainability Partnership Program (CSPP) with the city of Palmetto. This campus-wide initiative entails students and faculty working with community officials to complete projects relevant to Palmetto. Dr. Powers' class examined citizens' perceptions of crime in Palmetto and attitudes toward the police in an effort to evaluate Palmetto's community-oriented policing efforts. Over the course of a semester they developed, imputed, and analyzed a community survey administered to all residents in the city as well as facilitated and analyzed data from focus groups with residents and business owners. These efforts will culminate in a final report to the city that the Chief of Police will use to help inform the future directions of policing in Palmetto.
For more information on the Community Redevelopment Agency of The City of Palmetto, click here. For more information on USF's Community Sustainability Partnership Program, click here.