NCJ Number
92921
Date Published
1980
Length
51 pages
Annotation
Three papers provide insight into the development of communal policing, which focuses on crime prevention through neighborhood participation and interagency cooperation, from conception through practical applications.
Abstract
In the first paper, fundamental questions about the nature of policing are raised, as the narrow concept of crime control being primarily a police function is challenged in favor of a broader perspective of crime control being the function of the body politic. The second paper takes the argument a stage further in advocating a radically new police style for the future and indicating its practical application. The philosophy of policing proposed is that of a facilitator of a total community effort at crime prevention. Under such a policy, police will work with other community agencies as well as neighborhood groups to develop programs that will ultimately reduce the development of and opportunities for deviant and criminal behavior. An example of the structure for such a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to crime control is provided from a British city. The third paper advocates the development of a new ethic of policing rooted in the principles of participatory democracy. Such an ethic would emphasize communities' responsibility to police themselves through crime prevention initiatives. Under such an ethic, citizens would accept and respond to a new police role, whereby the police would act as facilitators and consultants in harnessing the total resources of the community to prevent and control crime.