How effective has community policing been in reducing crime and improving community-law enforcement relations? Consider what the data says and what community members might think.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Proactive policing such as foot patrol is the cornerstone of community policing. There is empirical evidence that some community policing efforts can reduce disorder and increase the perception of safety. A key element of community policing philosophy is that citizens must participate with police to fight crime. Community policing means the redesign of police departments' administration and management to focus on the problems of the community, not on the needs of the department. Some critics argue that community policing works best in neighborhoods that are already ordered communities and are fairly affluent with low rates of crime. Studies have not shown that this kind of policing has a significant effect on lowering crime, but residents of those communities tend to have less fear of crime and better relationships with the police. While the data has yet to bear out how effective community-oriented policing is, citizens in those neighborhoods tend to favor that type of policing and see it as effective.