Police Responses to Community Policing (From Police and the Community in the 1990s: Conference Proceedings, 1990, P 219-229, 1991, Sandra McKillop and Julia Vernon, eds. -- See NCJ-132447)

• NCJ Number: 132463
• Author(s): D B Moore
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Essays written by students in the New South Wales, Australia, Police Service were analyzed to evaluate the structure and rationale of community policing strategies and to assess police professionalism.

Abstract

Students structured their arguments about the meaning of community policing in essentially two ways. About half began by strongly denying that community policing was simply another name for Neighborhood Watch. The alternative approach was to outline long-term trends in policing and place the evolution of community policing programs in a historical context. Essays looked at how community policing would benefit individual police officers, the police bureaucracy, and the community as a whole. No essay described community policing as a win-win situation. It was generally argued that community policing encourages community trust; this trust brings more information to the police and, in turn, leads to a greater number of arrests. The essays also implied that community policing programs would better educate citizens about the nature of the criminal justice system and the role of police in that system. Certain essays pointed out that community policing requires higher expertise in police ranks as well as flexibility and openness to change. Students generally felt that community policing is a means by which police organizations can achieve professional status. 17 references