Original byline: Kenneth Robin Kress. Historical June 1980 report.
The Integrated Criminal Apprehension Program will begin coordinating police operations in the Skinker-DeBaliviere community (and the rest of the Seventh District) by the end of May, if retired Col. Adolph Jacobsmeyer has his way.
While ICAP shares many of Team Policing’s virtues, the integration of the two programs in the Seventh District may involve some difficulties. Col. Jacobsmeyer, a former assistant chief of police in St. Louis, is the director of the St. Louis Integrated Criminal Apprehension Program (ICAP). Under his direction, the program, which was developed by the national Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) will be introduced into every police district in St. Louis by the end of the year.
The program is an attempt to combine and coordinate many of the elements and techniques that were developed in other LEAA projects. ICAP emphasizes a quick analysis and sharing of crime statistics and a well-structured deployment of police patrols based on that information.
The central theme of the project is better information and better planning.
In most of its general recommendations, ICAP resembles Team Policing.
For instance, in ICAP, patrol officers are expected to conduct their own preliminary investigations. Patrol shifts are tailored to each neighborhood and a crime analyst provides officers with current information on crime activity in their area. Under Team Policing we have the same things.
Because of similarities between the two programs, some supporters of Team Policing also endorse ICAP. Capt. Carraway, the commander of the Seventh District, when he heard about ICAP several months ago, was enthusiastic. And Police Commissioner Susan Hart, a resident of Skinker-DeBaliviere, liked ICAP so much that she became influential in bringing it here. Said Col. Hart, “I sought ICAP because I felt that supporting Team Policing was like beating a dead horse. ICAP has more similarities to Team Policing than differences.” And Capt. Carraway in a separate interview, was equally happy with the similarities between ICAP and Team Policing: “I don’t see any differences at all between Team Policing and ICAP; I don’t see any conflict. It’s the same thing.” If these two principal supporters of Team Policing are happy with ICAP, why should officers in the Seventh District be worried? There are at least two reasons for concern: one is that Adolph Jacobsmeyer, the man in charge of ICAP, may be the wrong man for the job; the other is that little has been done to ensure a smooth integration of Team Policing and ICAP in the Seventh District.
The St. Louis Police Officers Association believes that, as head of ICAP, Jacobsmeyer is being asked to rectify a situation that he created. Prior to becoming manager of ICAP, Jacobsmeyer was an assistant Chief of Police, and was in charge of the Bureau of Field Operations.
In that position, the Association claims, Jacobsmeyer caused a decline in the morale and the effectiveness of patrols.
As Robert Rehg, executive director of the Association, put it, “The ICAP proposal was critical of the street patrols in terms of efficiency, but the man responsible for creating . . . the great inefficiency was Jacobsmeyer.” The proposal for ICAP suggested that Jacobsmeyer be appointed manager.
The Officers Association responded by sending a telegram to the head of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) asking that more consideration be given to the selection of the program manager. Equally unsettling to men in the Seventh District is the current lack of coordination between their District and ICAP.
Since the time several months ago when he was informed of the ICAP proposal, Capt. Carraway has been kept in the dark.
This has dimmed his enthusiasm.
While discussing the similarities between ICAP and Team Policing, Capt. Carraway interjected, “The note of dissatisfaction and chagrin in my voice is because of the secretiveness of the people administering the program. I don’t know when ICAP is coming to the Seventh. There has not been a sharing of information that is necessary for any new program.” Capt. Carraway explained that, as a result, his men were confused and worried. Even more ominous are indications that in the past few months there has been a disturbing change in ICAP’s emphasis.
While the program originally emphasized the skills and powers of uniformed police officers, it now emphasizes plainclothes detectives, Carraway said.
He went on to explain why that is a problem: “The Rand Corporation made a study of detectives and their degree of productivity.
They found that detectives were an expensive luxury —police departments couldn’t afford them.
The emphasis should be to train uniformed police officers to do the initial investigation and to reduce the number of detectives. That idea has been abandoned.” Another change in emphasis that disturbs Capt. Carraway is the reduced concern for good community relations. “I hope,” said Carraway, “that the people implementing ICAP will guarantee that the impetus towards good community relations will not be lost.” Capt. Carraway fears that if good relations are not maintained, we may see a return to the situations of the sixties when police met with citizens only in angry confrontations. Said Carraway, “If we are not careful, ICAP will allow that to happen again.” Although Capt. Carraway seems to have serious reservations about ICAP as it is being presented to him, he concluded the discussion of ICAP by saying, “I think the ICAP concept is sound.” While programs that are sound in theory can become problematic when implemented, it remains to be seen whether this will happen to ICAP in the Seventh District.
Originally published in The Paper, June 1980.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1980_06.pdf, printed page(s) 4; PDF page(s) 4.
