Community-Oriented Policing: Challenges and Strategies

What Is Community Policing?

Policing through community-oriented techniques has become one of the most influential developments in modern law enforcement. Community-oriented policing (or community policing) is one of the most popular forms of policing today. Some of the largest departments in the nation use it — including the Los Angeles Police Department — and proponents feel it adds social responsibility and understanding to the police officer's responsibilities. Community-oriented policing is a blend of police work and problem-solving, and many citizens find it more helpful and effective than traditional policing.

Community-oriented policing was born in the 1980s, when a group of forward-thinking police administrators and officers felt that "traditional" policing — built on foundations from the 1930s — was too old-fashioned and was beginning to fail. Traditional policing was based on rapid response, while community-oriented policing involves police partnering with the community to create safer neighborhoods and greater citizen involvement in the process (Bucqueroux, 2007). This type of policing can be extremely effective, and many communities feel it helps officers deal with the great diversity that so many American communities now include. As one group of writers states, "Problem solving and community partnership have become valued aspects of police service since the time of the reform era. As one analysis notes, 'Providing service to the community is the very nature of police work'" (Glenn et al., 2003, p. 92). Community-oriented policing blends community service with the more traditional role of capturing criminals and responding to crime reports.

Building trust is one of the central goals of community policing, and it can be achieved in a number of ways. Many communities now offer police substations throughout their neighborhoods, where citizens can meet their local police staff, make complaints, get information, and take an active role in keeping their communities safe. In addition, building the reputation of the police department through zero-tolerance stands on brutality and corruption can lead to greater public trust in the department as a whole.

Police Professionalism and Community Policing

Today's police officer is more than an upholder of the law. The modern officer provides a vital service to the community. As one group of writers notes, "The police officer performs a service for the greater good much as doctors sustain public health, lawyers defend individual rights, and military personnel protect their citizenry" (Glenn et al., 2003, p. 6). Police professionalism is a vital part of this service to society. Citizens must be able to trust their police officers to behave professionally and lawfully at all times. Police professionalism implies that departments which foster brutality and corruption are incompetent and dysfunctional. A skilled officer who maintains control of both the situation and his or her own emotions acts with dignity at all times — and this is the model of police professionalism.

This model aligns perfectly with the more open and accessible approach of community policing. Two writers note, "Community policing calls for a new breed of police officer operationalizing a new professionalism based on democratic values such as participation and openness, rather than on technological values rooted in substantive expertise" (Gianakis & Davis, 1998, p. 485). Thus, police officers today face many challenges that officers did not face even a decade ago. They must be problem-solvers as well as law enforcement professionals.

References

Bucqueroux, B. (2007). Community criminal justice: What community policing teaches. Retrieved from the Policing.com Web site: http://www.policing.com/articles/ccj.html

Gianakis, G. A., & Davis, G. J. (1998). Reinventing or repackaging public services? The case of community-oriented policing. Public Administration Review, 58(6), 485.

Glenn, R. W., Panitch, B. R., Barnes-Proby, D., Williams, E., Christian, J., Lewis, M. W., et al. (2003). Training the 21st century police officer: Redefining police professionalism for the Los Angeles Police Department. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

Leuci, R. (1999). The enemies within: Reflections on institutionalized corruption. In D. J. Kenney & R. P. McNamara (Eds.), Police and policing: Contemporary issues (2nd ed., pp. 216–219). Westport, CT: Praeger.