NCJ Number
124506
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Dated: (January-March, 1990) Pages: 5-12
Date Published
1990
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Community relations is the cornerstone of effective policing, and handling issues of community relations calls for a policing strategy which recognizes the all-embracing nature of the relationship between police and public.
Abstract
The community itself should be the focus, not the police. The community should be recognized as a multitude of different groups whose views and problems are varied. Relations within the community, between different groups, are mostly significantly outside the control of the police. Members of the community are themselves engaged in a great deal of informal social control. It is the community who should mainly determine whether police, in the formal sense, are to be involved. Consulting and working constructively with the community does not mean that the law will not be enforced, rather that the various groups making up the community will support action taken against criminal activities; crime prevention is a first class example of what this can entail. An effective community relations strategy calls for strong police action not only in conjunction with the community outside, but also through its own internal policies.