Police and the Community: Introduction (From Police and the Community: Contributions Concerning the Relationship Between Police and the Community and Concerning Community Policing, P 5-6, 1990, Thomas Feltes and Erich Rebscher, eds.)

• NCJ Number: 129770
• Author(s): T Feltes; E Rebscher
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 2 pages
• Sale Source: Felix-Verlag
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: German
• Country: West Germany (Former)

Annotation

In a democracy the relationship between the police and the community is often discussed; West German studies indicate that the police believe that they are undervalued and misjudged by the public and that citizens who become involved with the police express predominantly negative attitudes.

Abstract

Efforts have focused on improving the relationship between the police and the Community, but the West German police, unlike those in other countries, have been reluctant to support community policing. Community policing involves not only a closer collaboration between the police and the public but also a shift in emphasis from simple crime prevention and control to a focus on crime as one type of social conflict. Although the West German police perceive themselves mainly as crime fighters, police in other countries, especially North America, recognize that the police must become an integral part of the community to be the most effective. The papers in this volume come from international and German criminologists and may encourage both international cooperation and a new police theory in West Germany.