NCJ Number
149874
Date Published
1994
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This manual provides an operational overview of community policing and problem-oriented policing, as well as guidelines for planning and implementing a transition plan that will move a police department toward community policing.
Abstract
The Community-Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) project of the University of Southern California Department of Public Safety is designed to lead a police department through the steps required to implement a community-policing strategy. COPPS takes a police department beyond the strategy of just reacting to calls on an individual basis. Police responsibilities extend beyond the control of criminal activity to include crime prevention, promoting order, resolving disputes, and providing emergency assistance. The officer's methods, skills, and resources involve more than issuing citations and making arrests. The officer mediates and negotiates, refers matters to other municipal agencies, and mobilizes the community. The arena of the officer's activity is the beat or neighborhood. An important element of this strategy is problemsolving. Instead of just processing individual cases based in single incidents, problem-oriented policing examines overall crime patterns in particular areas and seeks to determine the factors that contribute to the crime patterns. Based on the analysis, officers work with the community to develop a strategy that will mitigate and resolve neighborhood crime problems. Each strategy is assessed to determine its effectiveness. This manual concludes with a transition plan that enables a police department to implement a COPPS strategy.