NCJ Number
203040
Editor(s)
Tom Van den Broeck,
Christian Eliaerts
Date Published
2002
Length
204 pages
Annotation
This book discusses some of the major themes of community policing introduced at the Brussels 2000 International Conference on Evaluating Community Policing.
Abstract
The book is a compilation of articles based on discussion at the conference. The first article reassesses the major viewpoints on the role and function of public police. Both the views of police-as-coercive authorities and police-as-knowledge-workers can be merged into a theory that presents the police as agents that broker access to troublesome individuals and problem populations for an administrative authority. The second article further develops this idea of governing through community policing, a theory that addresses and questions the relationship between police and political powers. An overview of existing police models is presented in the third article, along with the argument that community policing is not the next logical step in the development of policing models. The fourth article examines how democratization and accountability have been put into practice ever since the police implemented community policing. The human rights perspective on community policing is offered. The fifth article questions whether the conditions for democratic and accountable policing are being met by current changes in the policy on community policing. The provisions for participation and accountability in developing community policing and crime prevention programs are discussed. The sixth article assesses the reorganization processes of community policing in practice. The seventh article discusses the author’s personal experiences with the promotion of community policing in police training and education. The eighth article examines the unresolved issue of evaluating community policing and why there is no external evaluation of the outcomes of policing. The ninth article summarizes the results of research on public attitudes on the policy of community policing and on the local governance of crime. The final article concludes with a critical assessment of the practice of community policing. The necessity for democratic participation in, and control over, policing policy is underlined.