NCJ Number
132923
Date Published
1990
Length
257 pages
Annotation
Observations, interviews with police and citizens, and reviews of records of six New York City police precincts between December 1986 and February 1988 formed the basis of an analysis of the operation and impacts of the city's Community Patrol Officer Program.
Abstract
The program began with a pilot project in one precinct in 1984 and was expanded to all 75 precincts by the end of 1989. The program aimed to promote police officers' roles as planners, problem solvers, community organizers, and information exchange link. The research considered whether police officers could implement this role, their job satisfaction, their community relationships, citizen satisfaction, and supervisory issues. Results showed that community policing can improve police-community relations, police job satisfaction, and cooperation between police and community in solving neighborhood problems. Recommended actions to improve the program include intensified training for community patrol officers and police sergeants, dissemination of information about successful problem-solving strategies, strengthening the capacity of the community to take part actively, and protection of officers against malicious citizen complaints. Tables, appended manual on problem solving and report on community policing, and 51 references