NCJ Number
181490
Journal
Policing Volume: 22 Issue: 4 Dated: 1999 Pages: 618-632
Date Published
1999
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article questions the approaches used for evaluating the success of community policing in the United States.
Abstract
The article claims that reliance on crime and arrest statistics is not adequate. It examines one of the new measures--knowledge of organizational personnel--and reports on the interest in and acceptance of the community policing philosophy among police officers working in a pilot program in Anchorage, Alaska. The officers took satisfaction in some aspects of the work but were frustrated and uncertain about others. Support for the program was linked to three issues: desire for professional development, desire for knowledge of area covered and interest in creative and proactive problem solving. Clear definition of community policing and of a department’s goals should serve to ease the transition from traditional policing. Personnel evaluation standards should be changed if administrators want to make it clear that they expect real changes in officers’ behavior. And greater administrative attention to issues of coordination and planning also seems to hold substantial benefits for officers in the field. Tables, references, bibliography