NCJ Number
224270
Journal
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: Autumn 2008 Pages: 313-325
Date Published
2008
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Utilizing the Residential Area Policing Program (RAPP) in Cleveland, OH, this study explored whether there was a relationship between police officers’ race and a neighborhood’s racial composition on the police officers’ community policing experience.
Abstract
The Residential Area Policing Program (RAPP) officers’ responses show that this particular community policing experience was not affected by the relationship between the individual officer’s race and the neighborhoods’ racial composition. However, the responses illustrated how officers as racial groups experienced RAPP differently. The results serve as a preliminary step towards understanding how the relationship between officer race and neighborhood racial composition contribute to the experience of community policing. Issues of race and policing have been the subject of inquiry and of research in the United States since 1968. Most of the research on issues of race in policing to date has focused on the general support of community-oriented policing by race or gender of officers. Research directly related to community policing and race is minimal. This research study attempts to begin to fill the void in this area of research. Based on indepth interviews with 24 police officers who worked on the Cleveland, OH RAPP in 1996-1997, the study examined whether race influenced officers’ experiences in a problem-oriented policing context and questions, such as does the congruency between officers’ and a community’s race contribute one way or another to the overall experience from the officers’ perspective, and did officers’ race affect the way they assessed the success or failure of community policing? Tables, notes, and references