Community Policing: Rhetoric or Reality (From Community Policing: Rhetoric or Reality, P 153-175, 1988, Jack R Greene and Stephen D Mastrofski, eds. -- See NCJ-115735)

• NCJ Number: 115744
• Author(s): M Weatheritt
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: Praeger Publishers
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This review of the implementation of community policing in the 43 police forces of England and Wales concludes that the concepts of community policing have resulted in an emphasis on foot patrol and the promotion of crime prevention and better consultation.

Abstract

Community policing is a general term that covers a disparate set of policing activities and many forms of dialogue between the police and communities. Discussions often fail to recognize that policing is about the regulation of conflict, sometimes through the use of force, and to define a workable role for community beat officers. At the level of policymaking, community policing has failed to deal adequately with the fact that policing affects different publics in different ways and that law enforcement is bound to impinge on some groups more than others. Nevertheless, many individuals, groups, and agencies are aware that policing is about conflict regulation and that the police are given coercive powers to resolve those conflicts. Thus, they recognize that the police may dominate forums designed for dialogue and for planning joint action. Despite these difficulties, the concepts of community policing are attractive and are now leading to needed discussions regarding the specifics of their implementation. Notes.