Support for Community Policing Versus Traditional Policing Among Nonmetropolitan Police Officers: A Survey of Four New Mexico Police Departments

• NCJ Number: 165840
• Journal: American Journal of Police Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: (1996) Pages: 23-50
• Author(s): L T Winfree Jr; G M Bartku; G Seibel
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Earlier version of paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, 1994, Chicago

Annotation

This study of levels and sources of support for traditional and community policing activities in small to medium-sized police departments in New Mexico found that police officers viewed traditional and community policing activities as two separate but related aspects of police work.

Abstract

Researchers visited four police departments in New Mexico in late 1993 and early 1994. The police departments ranged in size from 60 to 125 sworn police officers. Police officer attitudes and orientation were assessed, as well as correlates of police solidarity and professionalism. Police solidarity was best understood in terms of who police officers were; lower police solidarity was associated with higher educational levels and more years of service as a police officer. Police professionalism was best understood in terms of how police officers felt about the appropriateness of police solidarity. Police officers supported the expenditure of significantly more resources on traditional versus community policing activities. Even so, support for traditional policing was directly related to support for community policing and vice versa. Besides the strong mutual effects of support for traditional and community policing on each other, community policing was also correlated with educational level and professionalism. Traditional policing was best understood in terms of location and department position. 66 references, 1 note, and 3 tables