NCJ Number
195129
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: 2002 Pages: 32-47
Date Published
2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article describes and evaluates the emergence of a Danish version of community policing.
Abstract
The National Danish Police adopted the concept of community policing – called proximity policing -- in the early 1990's. Small police units were stationed in local proximity police stations. The most important aspect was the participation in the SSP-network, a local cooperation between schools, social authorities, and the police and focused on crime prevention among children and juveniles under the age of 18. The new proximity police units were intended to reach out to local citizens, but in practice they had limited success. A series of experiments were carried out to evaluate this new concept. Observational studies of the daily work of proximity policing officers were conducted in six districts, and officers were interviewed formally and informally about their work and views on proximity policing. A citizen survey was conducted in three waves. Results showed that the Danish version of community oriented policing differed from the general trend in community oriented policing in several ways. A division was maintained between proximity policing officers and other police departments. A positive effect of this was that the difficulty of carrying out problem oriented work while at the same time managing the call load was avoided. A negative effect was that it isolated the proximity police and gave rise to accusations of ineffectiveness and lack of a proper police perspective. Officers maintained an affiliation to a limited geographical area for several years to establish closer ties to local liaisons and citizens. One of the most important problems for the future of proximity policing is the documentation of results. It is more difficult to document a crime prevented than a crime cleared. The achievements of proximity policing are contradictory in nature. Liaisons to the police in all the experimental districts praised the proximity police for their involvement in preventive work, while the rest of the police criticized this kind of work as being social work rather than police work. This study did not provide a clear answer to the question of whether proximity policing was worthwhile. 16 notes, 24 references