An impact assessment showed that there was no significant reduction in minor or major crimes in the target area for any of the time periods analyzed. The only significant finding was an increase in self-initiated ostensive patrolling (not through emergency calls) in the target area compared to the previous year [1].
The author suggests the possibility that once the police became more accessible to citizens in the pilot area, they became more comfortable reporting crimes (which may have offset the program’s crime reduction effects). However, it is difficult to judge the nature, focus, and intensity of the task force’s operations from the available information [1].