NCJ Number
109245
Date Published
1988
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Based on relevant research, this booklet portrays the strengths of community policing and corrects some misconceptions about it.
Abstract
Research which supports the value of the community policing concept pertains to police staffing commitments, preventive patrol, response time, patrol deployment, performance measures, public perceptions of the police, citizen demands for police service, and police-community relations. Community policing is a proactive, decentralized approach designed to reduce crime, disorder, and fear of crime by involving officers in the same community over a long term, so that residents will grow to trust community officers and provide them information and assistance in matters of crime and community order. Community policing uses a variety of tactics ranging from park and walk to foot patrol so as to encourage community support for policing aims. Community policing is distinguished from other policing approaches by deriving its priorities from community input. To clear up some misconceptions about community policing, it is not just a policing technique, is not the foot patrol of the past, is not just public relations, is not antitechnology, and is not soft on crime. Neither is it flamboyant, an independent entity within the department, a top-down approach, paternalistic or elitist, or anti-accountability. 28 footnotes.