NCJ Number
132454
Date Published
1991
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This wholistic approach to community policing in Australia sees community policing as affecting every aspect of the police organization.
Abstract
In Victoria, the police force has at least six distinct areas that can be classified as community policing: every police officer is involved in community relations; police encourage public involvement in crime solving; Victoria has 29 community policing squads throughout the State; police liaison officers serve as contact points between police and community groups; the police force has a public relations section; and a Special Projects Implementation Office accommodates large-scale programs such as Neighborhood Watch and the Police/Schools Involvement Program. Some fear that community policing will allow police officers to manipulate communities, that police will use community policing to surveil and control communities, and that community policing will be used by the government to gain support for an authoritarian police approach. In proposing a wholistic approach to community policing, it is argued that existing difficulties police have in maintaining effectiveness and providing needed services are caused by a rigid organizational structure and an inappropriate management system. The author's vision for the future is a police organization with a participative management style and a problem-oriented policing approach at all levels of the organization. A police organization primarily focused on solving community problems will be more responsive to local community needs. Projects involved in an evaluation of community policing in Australia are identified in an appendix. 44 references