NCJ Number
176238
Date Published
1995
Length
363 pages
Annotation
Because relationships change as individuals, communities, and societies change, this text addresses the challenge faced by all criminal justice practitioners (police, courts, and corrections) of developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with each other and with the citizens they serve in an atmosphere of change.
Abstract
Police officers are the most visible and the most approachable of all criminal justice practitioners, and a police- citizen partnership is essential to reducing crime. Shaping the partnership in positive ways requires effective police-community relations. Many disciplines are involved, including criminology, law, history, philosophy, psychology, political science, sociology, communication, and economics. The text aims to provide a better understanding of police-community relations. Chapters provide an overview of police-community relations, and discuss public relations and community relations, the police role in a changing society, and coping with the human experience of being a police officer. Chapters also address the communication process, police discretion and community relations, the media link, police relations with the young and the elderly, police-community relations in the context of culture, the dilemmas of dissent and political response, conflict management, community policing, and community control. Case studies in police-community relations are appended. Each chapter includes a student checklist and includes topics for discussion. References and figures