NCJ Number
141910
Journal
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Dated: (1993) Pages: 8-10
Date Published
1993
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The concept of community policing has been difficult to articulate in police training programs, but problem-solving skills should be a specific focus of training efforts.
Abstract
Some police officers are very comfortable with the philosophy of community policing, while the concept has been elusive for others. The past training focus on specialization may have been appropriate for technology- based policing innovations but not for community policing. Problem-solving skills appear to be more important in community policing work because police officers must get out into the community, identify what the community perceives as a threat, and help community residents solve their problems. The problem-solving process has four steps: identify the problem, analyze the problem, respond to the problem, and assess the response's effectiveness. Trainers in the Calgary, Canada, Police Service and other Canadian police agencies have been providing instruction in problem-solving skills. A key component of the training sessions involves relating actual examples of local situations where the problem-solving approach has been applied successfully. In addition to problem-solving skills, police officers should receive training in participative leadership, community resource development, research skills, survey methods, and civil law responses.