City Action Partnership

The City Action Partnership (CAP) in Downtown is a team of uniformed men and women (CAPs) who patrol on bicycles and in marked vehicles with rotating green lights. The CAPs work in tandem with law enforcement, businesses, and government in an attempt to keep downtown safe and friendly. In addition to patrols, CAPs answer questions and provide stranded motorist services free of charge to anyone in the CAP Service Area. Teresa K. Thorne is Executive Director of the City Action Partnership. The CAP office is located at 1704 5th Avenue North and the executive director is Teresa Thorne.

History

With the support of City Center businesses, Operation New Birmingham (ONB) helped form the CAP safety guide program in 1995 to improve both the actual safety and perception of safety in the area. The Business Improvement District (BID), which provide for an assessment on the property owners in the district, was created by a combination of a legislative act and a city ordinance. The assessment is currently .001 of the assessed property value ($1 for every $1,000 dollars of value). This funds the non-profit organization and allows CAP to provide services free of charge. A separate board of directors representing property owners within the BID who work to promote the CAP safety program governs the program.

CAP spent over a decade headquartered at 1801 3rd Avenue North in the Goldstein building, leased from Birmingham Landmarks. The groups was outgrowing the space, however, and Birmingham Landmarks was converting the second story of the building to the Hill Arts Center. This required an additional staircase exit to be built at that end of the building, making the CAPS space even smaller, so CAP relocated in the early part of 2008. CAP now shares space with Metropolitan Birmingham Services for the Homeless at its current headquarters, which is in Birmingham Parking Authority Deck 7.

Service Area

The CAP Service Area is bounded to the north by 11th Avenue North (including the Civic Center) south to 5th Avenue South, east to 22nd Street North (and South) and west to 16th Street North & 18th Street South, respectively.

Crime in the CAP Service Area dropped 59% over the first ten years (1994-2004) of CAP's existence, compared to a national average of 20%. Using statistics from the FBI, in 2004 the CAP Service Area averaged one crime per 100 people who live or work Downtown. This was the best average in the metro Birmingham area, tied with the suburb of Vestavia Hills 1.

Special Projects

CAP has sponsored special projects such as the 9-11 Memorial Walk, the Birmingham Pledge mural, and the Hanging Basket projects, as well as litter initiatives like "Can Your Butt".

References

• "Hats Off to CAP - in a new location!." (n.d. but c. December 6, 2008). Magic City Moments. Accessed March 20, 2009.

External Links

CAPisDowntown.com website