NCJ Number
170492
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 34 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1997) Pages: 368-394
Date Published
1997
Length
27 pages
Annotation
Data obtained from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) were used to examine levels and patterns of community policing implementation in a sample of law enforcement agencies serving populations less than 50,000.
Abstract
Data were derived from police department applications to a police hiring program called COPS FAST (Funding Accelerated for Small Towns). Of nearly 6,000 applications received, 5,726 contained data of sufficient quality for inclusion in the study. An index of community policing activities was developed to assess the effect of contextual factors on community policing. The analysis looked at bivariate relationships between the community policing index and contextual variables and then estimated several multivariate models to identify effects of contextual variables. To provide a more thorough understanding of contextual variables, predicted probabilities of various levels of community policing activities in different contexts were estimated. Findings revealed significant variations in levels of community policing activities by geographic region and police department size, with larger police departments and those from the western region of the United States practicing a wider range of community policing activities. The geographic size of a jurisdiction was not related to levels of community policing activities in nonurban police departments. Implications of the findings are discussed for three areas: future police research, Federal community policing programs and policies, and the community policing reform movement. 65 references, 19 notes, and 7 tables