NCJ Number
205897
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: 2004 Pages: 37-55
Date Published
2004
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effectiveness of independent, external, on-site assessments of the design and implementation of community policing in facilitating organizational change in the involved law enforcement agencies.
Abstract
Community policing involves a sweeping change in the delivery of police services and constitutes the first substantive reform in policing in more than 50 years. The community policing philosophy expands and intensifies police-citizen interaction and cooperation in addressing public safety problems and issues. The implementation of the community policing paradigm involves a significant change in the operational paradigm upon which police organizational structure, procedures, and values have been built. Any less of a change has proven to dilute and marginalize community policing efforts. The current study examined the degree and nature of change that occurred at five law enforcement agencies in the western United States after an independent, external, on-site assessment of each department's community-policing implementation. The assessment of each agency was conducted by the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), which is 1 of 28 regional community-policing institutes funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community-oriented Policing. The WRICOPS conducted a qualitative evaluation based on personal interviews and focus group interviews with command staff. The current analysis of the change precipitated by the assessment was timed so that the agencies had approximately 12 to 18 months to undertake changes recommended in the assessment report. Data collection occurred from October 1999 to August 2000. The level of impact of the assessment on each agency was measured for 21 categories deemed important aspects of community policing. An inter-rater reliability check determined that the two raters (the authors of this report) were in agreement in their analysis 92 percent of the time. The findings indicate that the WRICOPS assessment led to both the effective implementation of significant changes within the agencies and became the catalyst for change to community policing. There were substantially different results among the site, however, in terms of both the quantity and substance of the change. Although explanations for these differences involve many factors, the authors believe that organizational leadership may be an important factor. Recommendations are offered for future evaluations, such as attention to the variety of services that many county sheriffs' offices provide; all collateral functions should be included in an overall strategy for change. 1 table and 29 references