Chapter Seven: Policing Communities
Lecture Outline
I. Introduction
II. Impetus for change in policing
A. Community policing and problem-oriented policing
1. Originated in late 1970s and early 1980s
2. Result of crises in policing
a. police-community relations problems in the 1960s; local police departments
isolated from certain communities (EX: racial and ethnic minorities)
b. research
i. undermined assumptions about police management and reforms
ii. traditional "reforms" of police not likely to improve policing
(EX: more police, more patrol, faster response time)
c. police role is extremely complex
i. only a small part of police work is related to law enforcement
ii. most police work involves order maintenance and service
d. growing recognition that police cannot control crime by themselves
i. importance of citizens as "co-producers" of police services
ii. police rely on citizens to report crime
iii. decision to arrest is heavily influenced by citizens
iv. successful prosecution depends on victims and witnesses
III. The roots of community policing: The broken window hypothesis
A. Written by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling
B. Argued
1. Police should focus on disorder problems affecting quality of neighborhood life
--problems that create fear of crime and lead to neighborhood decay
2. "Broken Window"
a. a sign that nobody cares about the appearance of property
b. left unrepaired, encourages others to neglect their property
c. creates a downward spiral of deterioration
d. crime gradually increases in the neighborhood
3. Initial signs of disorder
(EX: drunks hanging out on the streets, teenagers loitering)
4. Neighborhood citizens become fearful and withdraw
5. Disorder begins to control neighborhood life
6. End result is serious predatory crime
(EX: burglary and robbery)
7. Police should intervene at first signs of neglect and disorder
A. Types of disorder
1. Two types of disorder (Skogan)
a. human
i. public drinking
ii. street corner gangs
iii. street harassment
iv. street level drug use and sale
v. noisy neighbors
vi. commercial sex
b. physical
i. vandalism
ii. dilapidation and abandonment of buildings
iii. rubbish
2. Little research has examined the relationship between disorder, fear and
serious crime
IV. Characteristics of community policing
A. Despite popularity, few understand concept of community policing
B. Popular strategies
1. Foot or bicycle patrols
2. Neighborhood police substations
3. Identifying neighborhood problems
4. Dealing with disorder
5. Organizing community meetings
6. Conducting community surveys
C. A major change in the role of the police
1. Shifts emphasis away from traditional mission of crime control
2. Broadens the police role to include issues such as
a. fear of crime
b. order maintenance
c. conflict resolution
d. neighborhood decay
e. social and physical disorder
3. Shift in mission is justified in two ways
a. reducing minor disorder that may lead to decrease in serious crime
(EX: broken windows hypothesis)
b. order maintenance--contributes to a civil, livable environment
D. Community Partnerships
1. Collaborative relationship between police and the community
2. Police and citizens are "co-producers" of police services
E. Consultation
1. Helps community and police define and prioritize problems
2. Community meetings (four functions)
a. forums for citizens to express problems and needs
b. allow police to educate citizens about crime and disorder
c. allow citizens to express complaints involving the police
d. forums for police to inform community about their successes and failures
(EX: MAST-Miami Dade Police Department)
3. Partnerships between police and citizens may vary in terms of
a. level of involvement of each of the partners
b. expectations that each one has of the other
F. Mobilization
1. Various program strategies
a. Neighborhood Watch
b. Operation ID
c. Crime Stoppers
2. Program strategies serve:
a. as deterrence mechanisms
b. to increase neighborhood cohesion
c. as a forum to educate the community about crime prevention techniques
3. Civil and administrative law to address neighborhood quality of life concerns;
police work with other agencies/personnel in the community
a. zoning inspectors
b. city officials
c. landlords
d. homeowners
e. code violation enforcement (EX: weeds, debris, inoperable vehicles, graffiti)
4. Portland, Oregon
a. growing number of drug houses
b. mobilized landlords
i. educated them about rights and responsibilities
ii. taught them how to screen applicants, identify drug activity, evict tenants,
work with neighbors and police
5. Community policing is largely focused on maintaining relationships between
the police and the community
G. The effectiveness of community partnerships
1. Foot patrol
a. evaluations (EX: Newark Foot Patrol Experiment)
i. additional foot patrol did not reduce crime
ii. increase in feelings of safety
iii. more positive feelings toward the department and officers
b. police may not be able to reduce crime, but they do reduce fear of crime
c. less fearful citizens will not withdraw from the community
d. process of neighborhood deterioration will not begin
e. other evaluations
i. Oakland and Birmingham--fear of crime and violent crime reduced in
beats where officers made door-to-door contacts
ii. Houston--home visits lead to decrease in violent crime and disorder
2. Neighborhood Watch evaluations
a. programs have little impact on crime
b. active programs-often found in affluent areas with little crime
c. less active programs-inner-city minority areas with more crime
3. Policing where "community" has collapsed
a. is community policing realistic in the poorest and high crime areas?
b. assumption that there is a viable "community" to organize
c. worst neighborhoods in many big cities
i. devastated by unemployment, crime, other social problems
ii. community leaders, the firmly employed, and families have left
iii. absence of positive influences--gangs become a focal point
d. community-organizing efforts may organize only the middle class
i. previous research has found more success with the middle class,
homeowners and whites
ii. organizing among whites may be motivated by racism--the fear of
blacks and Hispanics moving into neighborhoods
H. Organizational change
1. Organizational structure
a. traditional
i. police departments are highly centralized
ii. many levels of management
iii. more specialization
iv. line officer has little discretion
b. community policing
i. police departments are decentralized
ii. fewer levels of management
iii. less specialization
iv. line officer has more discretion
c. key assumption under community policing is agency flexibility
d. consistently assigning officers to neighborhoods or geographic areas
i. fosters a sense of geographic responsibility
ii. holds officers accountable for activities in their beats
2. Organizational culture
a. traditional--stressed the importance of crime fighting
b. community policing
i. "new breed" of officers knowledgeable about and experienced in
problem solving and citizen interaction
ii. officers will be more productive and satisfied with their work
c. attempts to alter organizational culture through reforms
i. participative management styles
ii. officer training on community partnerships, problem solving
iii. change in promotional standards
iv. change in departmental evaluation standards
3. Management
a. traditional
i. focus on issues of control through discipline
ii. emphasis on departmental rules and regulations
b. community policing
i. assist neighborhood officers in developing community contacts
ii. counsel neighborhood officers on political issues
iii. assist neighborhood officers in acquiring resources
iv. facilitate training opportunities for neighborhood officers
c. community policing organizations--more managers and fewer
supervisors (EX: St. Petersburg--Chief Goliath David)
I. Evidence of organizational change
1. Little evidence of police organizational change as a result of community policing
2. Some beneficial effects of altering organizational structure
a. officers permanently assigned to beats
(EX: Chicago)
i. increased police visibility
ii. increased officer activity
iii. became more knowledgeable of area
(EX: Philadelphia-public housing site)
iv. officers more likely to initiate investigations
v. increased officer ownership and responsibility
3. Organizational culture has changed--police officers' attitudes toward
community policing have improved
4. Research on community policing training
a. many agencies have incorporated training into academy
b. impact of training dissipates after officer leaves academy
c. community policing principles not re-enforced in field training
d. training alone may not have an impact on police culture
5. Changing role of management
a. policing may change role of supervisors
i. supervisors place more emphasis on community policing
b. participatory management
(EX: Madison, WI)
i. higher levels of work satisfaction among officers
ii. officers thought their work was more important
iii. officers believed they had more autonomy in the work place
J. Problem solving
1. Police and community work together to solve neighborhood problems
2. Requires identification of underlying problems rather than merely
responding to the problem
3. Often confused with problem-oriented policing; problem-oriented
policing is a part of community policing
V. Putting it all together: Implementing community policing at the departmental level
A. Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS)--one of the most ambitious
community policing efforts in the nation
B. CAPS Plan:
1. Six basic points
a. involvement of entire police department and entire city
b. permanent beat assignments for officers
c. serious commitment to training
d. significant community involvement
e. close link between policing and delivery of other city services
f. emphasis on crime analysis
2. Estimated strategy would take three to five years to implement
C. Obstacles to change
1. Resources
2. Public opposition to planned closing of precinct station houses
3. Rank and file commitment to CAPS
4. Supervision and performance evaluations
5. 911 system addressed problems related to violating the beat integrity principle
a. capped the number of times officers could be dispatched out of their beats
b. created special-response teams to handle critical incidents
c. developed new dispatch priorities
D. CAPS in action
1. Citizen interaction with police attempted through beat meetings
a. agenda for meetings was "just frank talk."
b. attendance was higher in African-American neighborhoods, primarily
due to concern about crime
c. greatest concern was drugs
d. disorder problems were frequently mentioned
e. issue of police disregard for citizens
2. Results:
a. beat meetings: goal of police-citizen partnerships was not met, because
police officers dominated meetings and controlled the agenda
b. other agency involvement was problematic
c. several problem-solving activities were initiated
E. Evaluation of CAPS
1. Mixed results: telephone surveys
a. relatively high level of awareness of program, but awareness did not
increase as time went on
b. increase in visibility of officers
c. increase in visibility of informal contacts between police and citizens
d. increase in public perceptions that police were responding to crime concerns
e. reduced fear of crime
f. over 80% of respondents did not complain that police stopped too
many people or were too tough
g. excessive use of force; African-Americans were (13%) more likely
than whites (4%) to say this was a problem
2. CAPS met some, but not all of its goals
a. officers spent more time on problem solving
b. significant changes in quality of life issues in target beats
c. crime-mapping program was not fully implemented
d. did not achieve desired level of citizen involvement
e. demonstrated that city-wide reorientation was possible
3. One major failure: inability to include some segments of the community;
least aware of CAPS were:
a. Latinos
b. renters
c. low income households
d. non-graduates
VI. Community policing: problems and prospects
A. Many unanswered questions remain about community policing
1. Some argue the "era" of community policing has arrived
2. Critics argue it is too early to determine its effectiveness and success
B. Rhetoric or reality? Community policing programs
1. Do they represent something new?
2. Or is it rhetoric being used to describe traditional policing?
3. Because of diversity and variety-difficult to note widespread changes
B. Too rapid expansion-some cities have adopted community policing without
careful planning
C. A legitimate police role?
1. Should officers function as community organizers?
2. Or should officers spend their time and energy on serious crime?
3. No right or wrong answers to these questions
D. A political police?
1. When police organize community groups, there's the danger that these
groups will turn into political advocacy groups
2. By uncovering roots of neighborhood problems, police may place limitations
on individual liberties
E. Decentralization and accountability
1. Decentralization
a. creates potential loss of control over police behavior
b. may result in abuse of authority
2. One danger in encouraging officers to be responsive to community
residents is that residents may make demands that are illegal or improper
F. Conflicting community interests; residents can obstruct creative programs
to solve community problems
VII. The roots of problem-oriented policing, as proposed by Herman Goldstein (1979)
A. Argued that police had traditionally defined their role in terms of vague and
general categories:
1. Crime
2. Order maintenance
3. Service
B. Each category includes many different kinds of problems
C. Police should take these categories and
1. Break them down into discrete problems
2. Develop specific responses to each one
D. Goldstein argued that traditional measures of police effectiveness are not useful
1. Data in the official UCR system are problematic
2. UCR system collapses all crimes into one global category
E. Police were prisoners of their communications system
1. 911 system forced them into a reactive role
2. Police devoted most of their resources to responding to calls for service
3. This prevents any planning for underlying problems
F. Difference between community policing and problem-oriented policing
1. Community policing
a. the means in which policing is done
b. goal: to build a strong positive relationship between the police and public
2. Problem-oriented policing
i. emphasis is on the end product of policing
ii. goal: to reduce problems of concern to the public
VIII. The problem solving process
A. Four stage process used in problem-oriented policing (S.A.R.A.)
B. Scanning strategies
1. Identify possible problems in the beat
2. Review calls for service and complaints to identify potential problems
3. Consult with residents who live or work in the beat area
B. Analysis-strategies:
1. Collect information about the problem to identify scope, nature and cause
2. Three categories of problem characteristics
a. actors
b. incidents
c. [past] responses
C. Response--strategies
1. Data collected in analysis stage is used to implement a response
2. Alternative solutions that may include
a. residents
b. other units in the police department
c. government agencies
d. local businesses
e. private organizations
f. other persons or groups that may be able to assist
3. Emphasis is on using tactics that have an impact on the problem
D. Assessment--strategies
1. An evaluation on the effectiveness of the response
2. Incorporates rigorous feedback
a. allows revision of response if necessary
b. allows the opportunity to re-examine whether the problem was
identified correctly
3. No single type of assessment is possible
(EX: police may use photographs to measure change in physical disorder)
IX. Effectiveness of problem oriented policing
A. Problem-oriented policing in Newport News
1. High rate of burglaries in Briarfield apartment complex; complex generated
more calls for service than other residential areas
2. Strategy
a. used S.A.R.A. model
b. analyzed crime patterns
c. took opinion survey of apartment residents
d. organized meeting of public agencies
3. Evaluation
a. statistics indicated a drop in crime
b. officer activities represented new role for the police
i. community organizers
ii. brokers of government services
B. SMART in Oakland
1. Incorporated concept of hot spots
2. Strategy
a. concentration on drug hot spots--houses and apartments with
high levels of drug activity
b. site visits by government agencies
i. housing code enforcement
ii. fire department
iii. utilities
c. utilized California Health and Safety Code to maintain a dwelling
where controlled substances are manufactured, sold or used is a violation
d. landlord training program
3. Evaluation
a. reductions in crime and disorder in most of the properties
b. crime and disorder were not displaced to surrounding areas
c. diffusion of benefits to surrounding areas
C. The Boston Gun Project: Operation Cease Fire
1. Early 1990s--increase in youth homicides
2. Analysis revealed strong association between homicides and gangs
3. Strategy
a. involved local, county and federal agencies
b. message was sent out to gang members to stop shooting or gang
members would undergo close scrutiny by the police
4. Evaluation
a. two years after operation went into effect
i. youth gang homicides dropped by 70%
ii. fear of crime among residents decreased 21%
iii. resident faith in police to prevent crime increased 33%
b. federal government has funded 27 other projects based on these results
D. Problem-oriented policing in Jersey City, New Jersey
1. Problem-oriented policing experiment
2. Strategy
a. used computerized mapping and database to scan for areas with high levels
of violence and drug trafficking
b. paired 24 violent crime areas
i. 12 received problem-oriented policing
ii. 12 received normal amount of traditional policing
c. after analysis completed, officers responded to root of identified problem
3. Evaluation: in problem-oriented policing areas
a. crime and disorder had decreased
b. there was no crime or disorder displacement to surrounding areas
E. Jersey City Public Housing Sites
1. Used similar strategy in problem-oriented policing experiment
2. Strategy
a. six housing sites
b. each site staffed with police and civilian representatives
c. variety of responses
i. situational crime prevention
ii. civil remedies
iii. traditional policing
iv. drug and alcohol treatment
v. environmental design crime prevention
3. Evaluation
a. problem-oriented police had a significant impact on serious crime
b. the more problem-oriented policing used, the greater the impact
X. Characteristics of zero-tolerance policing
A. Involves aggressive law enforcement with primary focus on:
1. Disorder
2. Minor Crime
3. Appearance of crime
B. Goals of aggressive enforcement
1. Residents will be more inclined to care for their community
2. Which will increase order and will lead to a reduction in fear of crime
3. Ultimately signal to potential criminals that law breaking will not be tolerated
C. Differences between zero-tolerance policing and other strategies
1. Community policing and problem-oriented policing
a. focuses on crime prevention
b. community is a primary co-producer of crime control
c. attempts to identify or analyze the cause of problems
d. requires police to make a fundamental change in police culture
2. Zero tolerance policing
a. focuses on a crime attack model
b. community may not be able to provide for crime control strategies; police
must take primary responsibility for crime control
c. does not attempt to identify or analyze the cause of problems;
focuses on specific types of behavior
(EX: urinating in public, loitering, aggressive panhandling)
d. focuses on place-specific interventions
(EX: hot spots)
e. culturally and organizationally represents traditional policing
f. does not require police to make a fundamental change in police culture
D. The effectiveness of zero-tolerance policing
1. New York City
a. 1993-1996, number of arrests increased dramatically
b. serious crime dropped dramatically
i. some credit zero-tolerance policing for the decline
ii. others claim decline was a late product of CPOP in New York
iii. experts state decline was part of national trend
2. Chandler, Arizona
a. Operation Restoration (specialized units)
i. one unit enforced city code violations
ii. second unit aggressively enforced order maintenance laws
iii. theoretically based on broken windows hypothesis
b. project had significant impact on:
i. public morals crime
ii. disorderly conduct
iii. physical disorder
c. similar trends in areas adjacent to target areas
d. implications: zero tolerance may only affect physical and social disorder
E. Potential problems with zero tolerance policing
1. Conflict between the police and the public
a. encourages officers to be overly aggressive ("harassment policing")
b. dramatic rise in the number of citizen complaints
i. complaints have led to lawsuits involving police misconduct
ii. rise in complaints may be a consequence of increase in arrests
2. Increase in crime in the long run
a. short-term impact: crime reduction
b. long-term impact: serious crime
i. arrest record may have major impact on a person's employment
ii. arrests for minor offenses can lead to serious crime
(EX: may make a person more angry and defiant)
3. Impact on poor and minority communities
a. may be directed toward poor and minority communities
i. especially for offenses that involve a great deal of discretion
(EX: arrests for suspicion)
ii. minorities may once again see police as an occupying force
b. Chandler, Arizona
i. crackdown on illegal immigrants
ii. searches later found to be conducted illegally
iii. residents complained about police harassment and brutality
iv. crackdown lead to $35 million dollar lawsuit
4. Verdict is still out on impact of zero-tolerance policing; further research
is needed to determine long-term consequences
XI. Summary: A new era in policing?
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education