NCJ Number
172657
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: (1996) Pages: 33-50
Date Published
1996
Length
18 pages
Annotation
To investigate disparities between the theory and the application of community policing, content analyses of community policing job descriptions and definitions were performed based on data obtained during a 1994 national survey of police departments in the United States.
Abstract
Police departments reporting the use of community policing were requested to submit copies of their community policing definitions and community policing officer (CPO) job descriptions. Content analyses followed precepts of the Trojanowicz Paradigm, a paradigm that views community policing as a philosophy to encompass the entire police organization and that emphasizes personalized policing. When analyzing variables in relation to police department size, differences were minuscule for certain variables (philosophy, personalized policing, patrol, decentralization, and problem-solving) and for goal variables (crime causes, fear of crime, and crime prevention). Large police departments were more likely to specify a proactive focus in their community policing definitions, while small police departments were more likely to specify qualify of life as a community policing goal. CPO job descriptions ranged in complexity from simple, two-paragraph characterizations to highly detailed, multi-paged documents. Police departments with community policing appeared to use a problem-solving approach. Although results were surprising, they were consistent with many case studies that trace community policing implementation problems to the failure of the larger organization to incorporate the community policing philosophy. 28 references, 16 endnotes, and 3 tables