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Advocate: Community Policing
... Studies were sought from community and problem-oriented policing, and from health, child services and community justice group research involving partnerships (Van Felius, 2022). Community and problem-oriented policing were chosen because of their close relationship to TPP (Bullock et al., 2021;Eck, 2019;Ferrandino, 2014;Scheider et al., 2009;Skogan, 2019). Both problem-oriented policing and TPP emphasise the use of a systematic problem-solving process in much the same way (Eck, 2019;Eck and Spelman, 1987;Scheider et al., 2009), whereas TPP and community policing both engage others to assist with crime prevention and control Ransley, 2006, 2019;Skogan, 2019). ...
... Community and problem-oriented policing were chosen because of their close relationship to TPP (Bullock et al., 2021;Eck, 2019;Ferrandino, 2014;Scheider et al., 2009;Skogan, 2019). Both problem-oriented policing and TPP emphasise the use of a systematic problem-solving process in much the same way (Eck, 2019;Eck and Spelman, 1987;Scheider et al., 2009), whereas TPP and community policing both engage others to assist with crime prevention and control Ransley, 2006, 2019;Skogan, 2019). Other partnership studies from health and social services were also reviewed to ensure that as many factors as possible were covered. ...
... A coordinated response is necessary to address the underlying causes and provide a long-term solution to the crime problem (Gilling, 2005;Homel and Brown, 2017;Thom et al., 2013;Van Staden et al., 2011). This phase contains a second component: the identification of potential partners who can add value to the partnership (Addison, 2015;Meyer and Mazerolle, 2013;Sadd and Grinc, 1994;Skogan, 2006Skogan, , 2019. ...
Third-party policing (TPP) partnerships provide police agencies with an opportunity to address underlying social issues, and allow for longer-term solutions to crime and the development of innovative crime-reduction strategies. A review of the multi-agency policing partnership literature identifies a range of formal and informal factors that impact on implementation and partnership engagement. However, the literature is limited in terms of how and why these factors facilitate or inhibit implementation, and/or how these factors interact. This article applies an international case study methodology involving 55 semi-structured interviews with police officers and representatives from partner agencies across three TPP partnerships, two in Queensland, Australia and one in the United Kingdom. The key findings highlight a range of factors that are important. Five of these are imperative to the successful implementation and sustainability of TPP partnerships and continued partner engagement: (a) clear and shared aims and objectives for the partnership; (b) commitment from management and all involved to partnership working and adequate resourcing; (c) trust, respect and open communication between the partners; (d) information-sharing protocols; and (e) measuring the performance of the partnership. This article further shows that these factors are interdependent and should be considered in the context of the others.
... Such discussions were followed by police departments experimenting with community-based policing as its popularity increased among managers, citizens, and politicians. The 1994 Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act provided federal funding for community-policing initiatives and evaluations (Skogan, 2019), although critics suggest that most police departments that claim to have adopted community policing have failed to shift their operations or to develop relationships with residents (Crowl, 2017;Mastrofski, 2019). ...
... Following the 1994 Crime bill, community policing has faced challenges for several reasons. Community policing is now competing for federal funding and attention with numerous other initiatives, such as the war on drugs, the war on terror, and zerotolerance enforcement (Skogan, 2019). The rise of CompStat has also prioritized datadriven initiatives over the community (Willis & Mastrofski, 2012). ...
... The rise of CompStat has also prioritized datadriven initiatives over the community (Willis & Mastrofski, 2012). Concerns about police conduct, especially toward marginalized communities, and officer pushback have decreased support for community policing (Skogan, 2019). The heavy demand for resources paired with the inconsistent results of community policing may encourage investments in other strategies (Mastrofski, 2019). ...
Victims' willingness to report crime and their opinions about the police are important indicators of police performance, police legitimacy, and trust in the justice system. This study examines two decades of trends in police notification and victims' perceptions of the police in the United States and major metropolitan areas since 2000, using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). In contrast to previous studies indicating an increase in police notification in the 1980s and 1990s, the present study shows a progressive decline in police notification observed in the last two decades, especially since 2010. Furthermore, there has been a marked increase in victims' mistrust of police responsiveness since the mid-2000s. Using multivariable regression models that control for potential changes in the characteristics of crime and survey methodology, we find that the victims' rising distrust of the police is widespread in many metropolitan areas, in all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and especially so for victims of theft, burglary, and simple assault. In the discussion, we suggest that the changing policing strategies and the evolving economic, political, and social environments of the 21st century may help explain the trends identified by this research. Understanding victim reporting trends and victims' opinions of the police may affect data and policy and help the justice system to better serve victims and enhance public safety.
... (Worrall & Schmalleger, 2018, p. 10) In this third era of policing it became clear that policing policies can be like a pendulum, as the previous quote indicates, swaying back and forth from era to era in response to new theories, research, and attempts to address the problems of the previous era. For example, one shortcoming of the reform era of policing was that the professional model encouraged police to think they would be most effective if they could ignore public opinion and politics, creating insulated police departments (Skogan, 2019). Foot patrol is another example of this pendulum. ...
Policing in the United States is facing trials and tribulations like never before in its history. Its problems are highlighted in every media form, creating demands for reform, defunding, and even abolition. Police are under extreme stress and the inability to fill vacant police officer positions has become a crisis. From assassinations of police officers to police officers being arrested for unjust killings of unarmed people, the problems facing U.S. police are complex and seemingly intractable. Competing worldviews that have created the culture wars are adding to the intensity of the problem, with different factions seeing the problem through different lenses. This theoretical thesis examines the history of U.S. policing and the issues that brought U.S. policing to its current state. It then introduces the elements of Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory and AQAL Framework and applies it to U.S. policing, examining the problems and potential solutions via the five elements of the AQAL Framework (quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types). The criminal justice system, police reform, and police leadership are all examined through the Integral lens. Based on these analyses, a transformational model of policing is offered: Integral Policing. Intentions and principles of Integral Policing are proposed, to include the potential for transformation of the individual police employee, police leaders, and policing agencies. This thesis concludes with a summary of the need for Integral Policing, an acknowledgement of limitations within this thesis, as well as recommendations for future research. The author’s subjective, first-person personal reflections are included with objective, third-person content in the thesis.
... Ao longo dos anos, o Estado tem procurado afincadamente "novas alternativas para o trato com a sociedade em geral, com base numa aproximação da comunidade, chamada, em Portugal de policiamento de proximidade, com aspetos semelhantes ao policiamento comunitário" (Cezário, 2009, p. 58). Visto como uma solução para a redução do medo e para melhorar a perceção de segurança no seio da comunidade (Maguire et al. 2019), este procurou estabelecer interesse pela prevenção do crime (Skogan, 2019). Os primeiros programas especiais de proximidade foram criados na legislatura de António Guterres (XII Governo Constitucional -1995/1999), posteriormente integrados no Programa Integrado de Policiamento de Proximidade (PIPP, que mais tarde se passaria a designar MIPP), nomeadamente o PES, direcionado para os espaços escolares (Ochoa, 2016). ...
... Variables underlying these three mechanisms are likely to be associated with one another in multiple ways. Most pertinently for the current purposes, a key aim of community policing is very often to enhance public trust and legitimacy by making police more present, visible and engaged in local areas and thus strengthening relationships with residents (Skogan, 2019). There is significant evidence to support this idea. ...
Areas high in collective efficacy – where residents know and trust one another and are willing to intervene to solve neighbourhood problems – tend to experience less crime. Policing is thought to be one antecedent to collective efficacy, but little empirical research has explored this question. Using three waves of survey data collected from London residents over three consecutive years, and multilevel Structural Equation Modelling, this study tested the impact of police visibility and police–community engagement on collective efficacy. We explored direct effects as well as indirect effects through trust in police. The findings showed levels of police visibility predicted trust in police. Trust in police fairness, in turn, predicted collective efficacy. There was a small indirect relationship between police visibility and collective efficacy, through trust in police fairness. In other words, police presence in neighbourhoods was associated with more positive views about officer behaviour, which in turn was associated with collective efficacy. The findings have important implications for policies designed to build stronger, more resilient communities.
... A third option is stratified crime prevention. This approach largely draws on community-oriented policing in that it "involves concentrating responsibility for crime prevention […] on a particular stratum of police officers, namely, uniformed frontline personnel" (Bayley, 1994, p. 138;Goldstein, 1987;Skogan, 2019). Under this approach, frontline officers would forge strong ties with their local community, identify CrimRxiv #Defund or #Re-Fund?: Re-Examining Bayley' s Blueprint for Police Reform 7 problems related to crime and disorder, and develop strategies to address said problems. ...
... This approach largely draws on communityoriented policing in that it "involves concentrating responsibility for crime prevention [. . .] on a particular stratum of police officers, namely, uniformed frontline personnel" (Bayley, 1994, p. 138;Goldstein, 1987;Skogan, 2019). Under this approach, frontline officers would forge strong ties with their local community, identify problems related to crime and disorder, and develop strategies to address said problems. ...
In light of the defund the police movement, it is imperative we consider what police reform could and potentially should look like. Some, for example, have called for a reduced police footprint in marginalised communities through reallocating police funding towards preventative services for a myriad of social issues. However, drawing on David Bayley’s Police for the Future, we show that a dilemma arises with respect to police involvement in these issues: the police cannot be solely relied upon to address all social issues, but they cannot be fully absolved of the responsibility either. As such, further drawing on Bayley’s thoughts for police reform, we instead argue for the adoption of evidence-based policing as a more fruitful driver of meaningful, long-term police reform as it not only enables the police to identify practices that are effective or even harmful, but it also can be used as means for police accountability.
... 36 Community policing can increase public support of police, improve police effectiveness, and contribute to positive rebuilding of vulnerable neighbourhoods. 37 Garth den Heyer (2019) studied the role of New Zealand Police Cultural Liaison Officers in regards to crime prevention and Community Policing. Fifty officers were contacted, covering Maori, Pacific and Ethnic liaison roles. ...
Relationships between the New Zealand Police and refugee communities are largely unresearched. This case study focuses on Syrian refugees in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Syrian refugees are notable by their numbers since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2014, and Greater Wellington is an area where many have been re-settled. Police are a key symbol of the state and interaction with police can leave defining impressions. This study researches refugee experiences in New Zealand through semi-structured interviews with police and others who have worked with Syrian refugees. It seeks to shed light on the mixed nature of the refugee experience and the opportunities for improvement that exist. Community Policing studies in New Zealand have not previously included aspects of ethnicity beyond New Zealand Maori, and this study may therefore assist in more generally understanding the strengths and challenges of Community Policing and refugee communities in New Zealand.
... The overall organizational expectation of a police officer was to appear, do something and depart as fast as possible (Sherman, 2013). On the other hand, concerned residents did not want the crime that sparked these efforts to happen in the first place (Skogan, 2019). There appeared to be a gap between what police delivered and what was requested. ...
Hot spot policing is an established concept that is proven to reduce crime. It is mostly done through foot patrol or car patrols. In the present study it is tested whether helicopters can produce a deterrent policing effect to reduce the amount of vehicle arsons in Sweden on larger hot areas. Sweden tends to have elevated levels of vehicle arsons in August, with about 20% of police districts responsible for 50% of the cases. The risk narrative revolves around youth congregating in public places in deprived neighborhoods to generate disturbances, and the disruption of the risk narrative tested here is based on providing deterrence through helicopter police presence. During 6 weeks in August and September of 2019 police helicopters patrolled four police districts in Sweden to attempt to prevent vehicle arsons. Our data comprise police reports of vehicle arson, and time stamped satellite data over the location for police helicopters. The evaluation considers whether there is an intention to treat effect from this project, in addition to whether there is an effect of actual helicopter presence. The study finds no significant effect of intention to treat, nor of actual dosage.
Few issues loom larger today than how the United States can rehabilitate its criminal justice system. Although justified and undoubtedly timely, the national focus often shifts attention away from local, interpersonal, and community processes that shape how criminal justice is administered and experienced differently in communities across the country. Our goal is to contribute to the national conversation on community-oriented policing and social innovation to improve police-community relations and increase public trust in majority-Black neighborhoods. This article offers a call to action for the scientific and policy communities to reflect on effective practices that bring the voices of local stakeholders to the forefront of policy and programmatic agendas. 2
The integration of technology has been identified as a major factor that can improve the performance of community police, reduce crime rates, and enhance community security. The purpose of this study was therefore to identify the technologies employed by the community police unit of the Ghana Police Service and the challenges that impede the full integration of technology into community policing. By engaging 27 participants from the Ghana Police Service in the Greater-Accra, Ashanti and Northern Regions, the research used a qualitative descriptive approach to analyse the use of communication technologies, surveillance tools, and data management systems in community policing. Key findings revealed that technologies such as mobile phones, CCTV cameras, and data mapping tools are instrumental in enhancing real-time communication, monitoring, and crime prevention. However, significant obstacles, including financial constraints, low digital literacy among officers, and community trust issues, hinder full integration. The study recommended that the Ghana Police Service seeks partnerships with private organizations to secure funding for technological resources, expand digital literacy programs for officers, and engage communities to build trust around technology use in policing. These findings contribute to the discourse on modernising law enforcement and underscore the importance of technology for effective community engagement and public safety in Ghana. By addressing these challenges, law enforcement can achieve a balanced integration of technology to support community policing objectives.
Research Summary
Broken windows theory suggests that police can prevent serious crime by addressing social and physical disorder in neighborhoods. In many U.S. cities, recent increases in disorder, fear, and crime have initiated calls for an intensification of disorder policing efforts. Disorder policing programs can be controversial, with evaluations yielding conflicting results. Further, a growing number of descriptive analyses of aggressive order maintenance programs raise concerns over varied negative consequences, such as increased racial disparities in arrests of citizens. Systematic review and meta‐analytic techniques were used to conduct an updated analysis of the effects of disorder policing on crime. Fifty‐six eligible studies including 59 independent tests of disorder policing interventions were identified, representing almost twice the number included in the previous review. As part of the meta‐analysis, new effect size metrics were used. The updated meta‐analysis suggests that policing disorder strategies are associated with overall statistically significant crime reduction effects that spill over into surrounding areas. The strongest program effect sizes were generated by community and problem‐solving interventions designed to change social and physical disorder conditions at crime hot spots. Conversely, aggressive order maintenance strategies did not generate significant crime reductions.
Policy Implications
The types of strategies used by police departments to address disorder seem to matter in controlling crime, and this holds important implications for police–community relations, justice, and crime prevention. Further research is needed to understand the key programmatic elements that maximize the capacity of these strategies to prevent crime.
This chapter aims to shed light on the practices of community policing in Egypt, show its most prominent forms, and highlight its social role in solving and settling social and criminal problems in Egyptian society. The chapter will rely on the descriptive analytical approach to identify the practices of community policing in Egypt. The chapter plans to introduce community policing and its theoretical framework by addressing its definition, components, goals, and requirements and reviews the most prominent applications of community policing in Egypt, the most important of which are community participation committees in police departments, police reconciliation committees, and community participation committees in police stations. Reform and rehabilitation, and finally, the societal role of the police in community initiatives aimed at reducing the living burdens on citizens. The chapter concluded with the importance of the community policing model in enhancing public participation in maintaining security and combating crime and its reflection on building confidence in the police.
An evidence-based approach to crime and justice policy can go a long way toward ensuring that the best available research is considered in decisions that bear on the public good. However, the term “evidence-based” is characterized by a great deal of rhetoric. Indeed, there remains a marked disjuncture between calls for evidence-based policy and an understanding of what it means for policy to be evidence-based. The calls for evidence-based policy nonetheless provide a powerful foundation for propelling a movement toward bringing about rational, cost-effective, and humane policies for the betterment of society. This handbook showcases the state of research on evidence-based crime and justice policy and the challenges that impede its creation and use. The volume has three core objectives: to promote new and productive ways to think about evidence-based policy; to demonstrate how research can contribute to and guide evidence-based policy in juvenile justice, criminal justice, and alternatives to system responses; and to identify strategies that can increase reliance on evidence-based policy. To meet these objectives, each chapter is guided by several central questions: What do we know about evidence-based policy and practice in crime and justice? How can we improve knowledge of evidence-based policy and practice? How can we promote more use of evidence-based policy and practice? Taken as a whole, the volume emphasizes the critical need for policies that are grounded in high-quality research, that address critical research gaps, and that fully acknowledge the limitations of what extant research can do to inform policy decisions.
Drawing on further work by Taleb (2012), it is perhaps possible to identify three types of organizational systems, differentiated by how well they can respond to serious but unexpected events, such as a fatal police shooting of an unarmed civilian, or a prison escape by a high-profile offender. Some organizations will have fragile legitimacy, and will therefore suffer when the unexpected occurs; some will be resilient, neither suffering nor gaining from black swan events; but a few may develop anti-fragile legitimacy characteristics—that is, they will have institutionalized a culture of learning from unforeseen events, and will therefore ultimately become stronger after the setback. How best to develop resilient and anti-fragile criminal justice agencies seems likely to become an important topic for future research, and perhaps a good starting point for such a process will be to focus on developing organizational structures and practices that fully incorporate the principle of being ready for the unexpected, and that take seriously the research evidence on pluralism, functioning, flexibility, and self-schooling.
To extend the limited evidence on how hot spot policing (HSP) strategies affect community experiences, perceptions, and attitudes, police agencies in two cities participated in a randomized experiment involving 102 hot spots that were assigned to a control condition ( n = 51) or to receive a HSP program emphasizing patrol, community engagement, and problem-solving for 14–17 months during 2019 and 2020 ( n = 51). Cross-sectional surveys with hot spot community members were conducted in person before the program ( n = 1082) and, due to COVID-19, by mail and internet afterwards ( n = 768) to assess program effects on crime victimization, views of crime and disorder, and attitudes towards police. In both cities, the evaluation period overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic and the national protests for police reform following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis during 2020; in one city, the program was ongoing during these events. Results showed the program had few effects on community experiences and views, though there were some indications it may have improved perceptions of police legitimacy and police misconduct in one city. The findings suggest that HSP strategies do not have harmful effects on community perceptions and might improve some aspects of police-community relations. However, weak program implementation, challenges to survey administration, and the occurrence of both COVID-19 and the George Floyd incident during the study period complicate interpretation of the results.
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate a promising community-oriented policing strategy called “front porch roll call” (FPRC), which involves conducting roll calls in public forums.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methods approach was used by drawing on survey data, field observations and qualitative interviews to describe how FPRCs were implemented in Saginaw, MI from 2019 to 2022, and how they can be successfully implemented to operate in accordance with the theoretical foundations of community-oriented policing.
Findings
Survey data from FPRC attendees reported improvements in their perceptions of police legitimacy, trust in the police and procedural fairness—each of which are vital pathways to developing collaborative crime prevention initiatives in community-oriented policing. Qualitative interviews and field observations provided unique insights into areas of improvement and ways to enhance sustainability for future use.
Originality/value
Community-oriented policing offers a philosophical approach to addressing crime problems through the formation of localized, collaborative solutions that come from police-community partnerships. A key implementation challenge is that such programs can fail to align their initiatives with the theoretical principles of community policing. FPRCs offer an innovative solution that operates closely with the spirit of community-oriented policing. Data from a mixed-methods evaluation provide further insights into their challenges with implementation and ways to improve upon them.
The police have the unique capacity to preempt and deter violence and to reduce the use of firearms in violent encounters. But overly aggressive policing tactics have contributed to a fraught relationship with low-income minority communities in which gun violence is heavily concentrated. Increased resources should be devoted to policing gun violence, but efforts of this sort must be targeted and disciplined. Effective policing requires a focus on the places and people that are at greatest risk; and there is a strong case for police agencies to increase the resources devoted to investigations of all criminal shootings, not just homicides. Successful policing of gun violence requires a productive working relationship with victims and their neighbors, which can be facilitated through observing community policing principles and respect for residents’ interests.
Evidence-based policing (EBP) has become a key perspective for practitioners and researchers concerned with the future of policing. This volume provides both a review of where evidence-based policing stands today and a consideration of emerging trends and ideas likely to be important in the future. It includes comparative and international contributions, as well as researcher and practitioner perspectives. While emphasizing traditional evidence-based methods and approaches, the book also identifies barriers to the advancement of evidence-based policing and expands the vision of evidence-based policing by critically examining ethical and moral concerns and questions. The book's main focus is not on what has to happen in police agencies to advance EBP, but rather on an issue that has received far less attention - the science that is necessary to produce for EBP to be successfully integrated into policing.
Evidence-based policing (EBP) has become a key perspective for practitioners and researchers concerned with the future of policing. This volume provides both a review of where evidence-based policing stands today and a consideration of emerging trends and ideas likely to be important in the future. It includes comparative and international contributions, as well as researcher and practitioner perspectives. While emphasizing traditional evidence-based methods and approaches, the book also identifies barriers to the advancement of evidence-based policing and expands the vision of evidence-based policing by critically examining ethical and moral concerns and questions. The book's main focus is not on what has to happen in police agencies to advance EBP, but rather on an issue that has received far less attention - the science that is necessary to produce for EBP to be successfully integrated into policing.
The paper focuses on community policing, a recent concept taken to as additive to law enforcement which has become everyone’s allegorical remedy for policing problems in the global system. The concept as an agenda for policing reform, has received numerous attentions, having received scholarly debates in various. In Sub-Saharan African region, and most especially Nigerian state where issues of crimes and insecurity have taken different dimensions, there have been agitations and a need to get an alternative to security structure in the country. Officers of the Nigeria Police are conspicuously overwhelmed in the discharge of their fundamental duties, there is, therefore, the need for community policing to complement their efforts in the maintenance of internal security and protection of lives and property. Therefore, this study interrogates the factors aiding the surge of crimes and ineffective policing in Nigeria, and also examines the merits derivable in subscription to the community policing viewpoint. The study gathered its data from secondary sources. The study in its findings, reveal that: a disconnect between the people and government, interagency rivalry, absence of intelligence gathering on the part of the security agencies, non-prosecution of violence perpetrators, amongst others, aid the surge of crimes and ineffective policing in the state. It as well argues that community policing would definitely go a long way in reversing the current state of insecurity for good in Nigeria. The paper, in its recommendations, submits that both the police and the public should jettison the rigid notion of rivalries between them, and should cultivate the force of togetherness and become partners in the course of securing lives and property in the society.
Evidence on how hot spot policing affects community members’ views of police is very limited and inconclusive. Scholars have thus called for further study of community attitudes in hot spots to guide police in the formulation of hot spot strategies—an issue that is especially salient given recent public controversy surrounding policing, particularly in the United States. Using survey responses collected in 2018 from more than 1,000 community members living or working in more than 100 hot spots across 2 mid-sized cities in the United States, this study examines how community members’ perceptions of police activities in hot spots relate to their wider attitudes about police. Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that community members in hot spots in both cities exhibit more positive attitudes towards police along several dimensions (e.g., trust and confidence in police, views of police legitimacy, and perceptions of police responsiveness and procedural justice) when they see more frequent patrol and when they see positive police-community interactions. They have more negative views of police when they witness higher levels of investigative and enforcement activity. The findings support hot spot policing strategies that emphasize regular, systematic patrol in hot spots, complemented by positive community engagement efforts and problem-solving work. In contrast, they imply that enhanced enforcement activity in hot spots should be used judiciously.
Este ensaio tem como objetivo central pensar as possibilidades de estudos que a adoção de tecnologias em organizações policiais, também chamada de organização de trabalho extremo, pode sugerir à área dos Estudos Organizacionais. Para tanto, apresentamos as organizações policiais como tipo organizacional único enquanto organizações políticas e que fazem parte do aparato público. A partir dessa exposição inicial, tratamos dos tensionamentos presentes entre a organização policial e a adoção de tecnologias como forma de legitimação. Posteriormente, indicamos como base para a reflexão quatro tecnologias trazidas pela literatura presentes na prática policial contemporânea: câmeras, reconhecimento facial, Big Data e mapeamento genético. Com a análise das referidas tecnologias e as informações mais recentes sobre suas possibilidades quando adotadas pela polícia, sugerimos uma agenda de pesquisa dentro dos Estudos Organizacionais por meio de três frentes: racionalização e salvacionismo tecnológico; vigilância, raça e gênero; e capitalismo de vigilância e dark side da digitalização.
Research summary
Changing police use of force policies and training to incorporate de‐escalation tactics is one of the most routinely recommended police reform measures. Despite widespread promotion and proliferation of de‐escalation trainings, to date, no research has empirically demonstrated that these trainings reduce use of force in the field (Engel, R. S., McManus, H. D., & Herold, T. D., 2020). Therefore, it is unknown if de‐escalation trainings actually reduce force, have no impact, or have unintended consequences that possibly increase injuries to officers or citizens. We collaborated with the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) in 2019 to evaluate the impact of the Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) de‐escalation training developed by the Police Executive Research Forum. Using a stepped‐wedge randomized controlled trial research design, the panel regression results demonstrated statistically significant reductions in use of force incidents (−28.1%), citizen injuries (−26.3%), and officer injuries (−36.0%) in the post‐training period. These significant reductions were larger than any changes in LMPD arrest patterns during the same period. Other possible time‐based confounders were also considered; the combined analyses show robust, consistent, and immediate impacts on use of force counts after training.
Policy implications
Our findings suggest that agencies should continue to implement and evaluate de‐escalation trainings and adopt other resiliency‐based approaches to police training. To facilitate long‐term changes in police behavior, a holistic approach is recommended that supports training tenets with complementary policies, supervisory oversight, managerial support, and community involvement in reform efforts. Finally, researchers must continue to support police executives willing to open their agencies for evaluation and oversight. Due to the LMPD's partnership with researchers, evidence now exists that de‐escalation training can make police encounters with the public safer for all. Continuing to implement and evaluate innovative police trainings is our best opportunity for meaningful changes in policing.
Purpose:
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised unique challenges for police. Reductions in manpower due to officer illness and the need to social distance to suppress spread of the disease restricts the ability of police to fully engage with the public and deliver full services. Changes to policing strategies may affect residents’ feelings of safety and their relationships with police. The purpose of this study is to understand high crime area residents’ experiences with police and safety during the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach:
The current study draws on household surveys of residents across three high crime, disadvantaged neighborhoods in St. Louis County, Missouri. We implemented three methods. First, we synthesized qualitative feedback about the impact on safety and policing. Second, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests compared pre-pandemic assessments of policing and safety measures to measures collected during the pandemic. Finally, we employed multinomial regression to examine how perceived changes in policing affected residents’ change in safety during the pandemic.
Findings:
Residents saw police less and engaged with police less during the pandemic. They reported hearing gunshots more often. Reduced police presence in neighborhoods led to mixed effects on safety, largely decreasing residents’ feelings of safety. However, two factors that consistently improved safety were positive encounters with police and police being less involved with minor offenses.
Originality/value:
This is the first study that assesses the pandemic impact on residents’ perceptions of safety and police in disadvantaged, high crime contexts.
Since the 1980s, community policing has been embraced as the dominant police strategy. Thompson and Jenkins (2013) estimated that 97% of an officer’s time is spent communicatively interacting with the public, indicating a strong incentive to study how communication affects those involved in police interaction. Utilizing communication accommodation theory, this study examines the relationship between accommodation, trust, and overall perceptions of police. An experiment using hypothetical situations was conducted with 257 students at a large, southeastern university in the USA. The data indicates that accommodative behavior can lead suspects to be more trusting of an individual police officer but did not significantly affect their overall perceptions of police officers. There were mixed results related to the effects of consumption of crime television shows indicating a complex relationship between media representation, officer behavior, and trust. We argue that to improve communication between officers and suspects, we need to look beyond the community policing principle, and examine the key communication behaviors that help officers build trust with suspects and more generally in their communities.
Background
Homicide is a widely acknowledged public health problem in the United States. The majority of homicides are committed with a firearm and have long-term health consequences for family members and entire communities. When left unsolved, violence may be perpetuated due to the retaliatory nature of homicides. Improving homicide clearance rates may help prevent future violence, however, we know little about the community-level social dynamics associated with unsolved homicides.
Methods
This study examines the individual-and-community-level social processes associated with low homicide clearance rates in Indianapolis, Indiana between 2007 and 2017. Homicide clearance is the primary outcome, defined as if a perpetrator was arrested for that homicide case between 2007 and 2017. Individual-level variables include the victim’s race/ethnicity, sex, and age. Community-level (i.e., census tracts) variables include the number of resident complaints against the police, resident complains of community disorder, income inequality, number of police interactions, and proportion of African American residents.
Results
In Indianapolis over a 11-year period, the homicide clearance rate decreased to a low of 38% in 2017, compared to a national clearance rate of 60%. Homicide case clearance was less likely for minority (OR 0.566; 95% CI, 0.407–0.787; p < 0.01) and male (OR 0.576; 95% CI, 0.411–0.807; p < 0.01) victims. Resident complaints of community disorder were associated with a decreased odds of case clearance (OR 0.687; 95% CI, 0.485–0.973; p < .01)., African American victim’s cases were less likely to be cleared in 2014–2017 (OR 0.640; 95% CI, 0.437–0.938; p < 0.05), compared to 2007.
Conclusions
Our study identified differences in neighborhood social processes associated with homicide clearance, indicating existing measures on these community factors are complex. Programs aimed at improving signs of community disorder and building community engagement may improve neighborhood clearance rates, lower violence, and improve the health of these communities.
Research Summary
The current study analyzes the crime reduction effect of a police substation operating within a business improvement district in Newark, New Jersey. Synthetic control methods were used to create a control group that was statistically equivalent to the cumulative street units in the target area. Significant reductions of burglary and motor vehicle theft were observed in the target area as compared with a synthetic control area over the postintervention period. Robbery and theft from auto, conversely, suffered from spatial displacement. Of the six police actions included in the process evaluation, quality‐of‐life summonses and directed patrols increased in the postintervention period, whereas parking summonses significantly decreased.
Policy Implications
The results of this study suggest that the effect of substations on crime likely depends on certain contextual factors. Newark's substation was not a stand‐alone facility, but the headquarters of a police unit given jurisdiction over the target area. Therefore, the opening of the substation represented an increase in visible police presence. The effect of the substation was heightened when accompanied by increases in proactive policing activities. Agencies wishing to effectively address robbery and theft from auto may have to design substation strategies in a manner that better influences offender decision‐making to prevent displacement.
Objectives
Systematically review and synthesize the existing research on community-oriented policing to identify its effects on crime, disorder, fear, citizen satisfaction, and police legitimacy.
Methods
We searched a broad range of databases, websites, and journals to identify eligible studies that measured pre-post changes in outcomes in treatment and comparison areas following the implementation of policing strategies that involved community collaboration or consultation. We identified 25 reports containing 65 independent tests of community-oriented policing, most of which were conducted in neighborhoods in the United States. Thirty-seven of these comparisons were included in a meta-analysis.
Results
Our findings suggest that community-oriented policing strategies have positive effects on citizen satisfaction, perceptions of disorder, and police legitimacy, but limited effects on crime and fear of crime.
Conclusions
Our review provides important evidence for the benefits of community policing for improving perceptions of the police, although our findings overall are ambiguous. The challenges we faced in conducting this review highlight a need for further research and theory development around community policing. In particular, there is a need to explicate and test a logic model that explains how short-term benefits of community policing, like improved citizen satisfaction, relate to longer-term crime prevention effects, and to identify the policing strategies that benefit most from community participation.
According to community policing advocates, police agencies should implement a variety of important organizational changes. These changes are supposed to occur in a number of different substantive domains, including the culture, behavior, and structure of police organizations. This paper examines the evidence for change in just one of these domains: formal organizational structure. Based on concepts derived from organization theory, and using data from six different data sets, the paper explores whether the structures of US police organizations changed during the 1990s. Overall, it finds mixed evidence. Some changes have occurred in the direction encouraged by community policing reformers, some changes have occurred in the opposite direction, and some changes have not occurred at all.
Proactive policing, as a strategic approach used by police agencies to prevent crime, is a relatively new phenomenon in the United States. It developed from a crisis in confidence in policing that began to emerge in the 1960s because of social unrest, rising crime rates, and growing skepticism regarding the effectiveness of standard approaches to policing. In response, beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, innovative police practices and policies that took a more proactive approach began to develop. This report uses the term "proactive policing" to refer to all policing strategies that have as one of their goals the prevention or reduction of crime and disorder and that are not reactive in terms of focusing primarily on uncovering ongoing crime or on investigating or responding to crimes once they have occurred.
This study examines views about police legitimacy and competence in neighbourhoods over time. The study compares theories about police legitimacy, the cooperation hypothesis, and the collective security hypothesis to predict violence. Findings suggest that when police legitimacy is deficient in neighbourhoods, a culture supportive of violence to resolve disputes may develop. Results show the importance of police competence to suppress violence and build collective efficacy. Finally, police are more successful in neighbourhoods that are collectively efficacious. The cooperation hypothesis is fully supported, but the collective security hypothesis and LaFree’s legitimacy theory receive partial support. Findings underscore the merit of examining neighbourhood consequences of police legitimacy, including how institutions, like police, can impact neighbourhood socialisation processes and are impacted by them.
Research Summary: Interviews and surveys were used to measure the extent of problem-oriented policing (POP) by individual police officers in the San Diego Police Department. Officers tended to engage in small-scale problem solving with little formal analysis or assessment. Responses generally included enforcement plus one or two more collaborative or nontraditional initiatives. Policy Implications: Despite 15 years of national promotion and a concerted effort at implementation within the San Diego Police Department, POP as practiced by ordinary police officers fell far short of the ideal model. It may be unreasonable to expect every police officer to continuously engage in full-fledged POP.
In 1990 the New York City Police Department committed itself to implementing community-oriented policing throughout the city. They selected the 72nd precinct in Brooklyn to test a comprehensive police model with full staffing and resources. The Police Foundation, with funding from the National Institute of Justice, conducted a process evaluation of the program, which among other things, examined its effects on the structure and operations of police activities. Results showed that officers had favorable impressions of community policing and that they were able to identify residents' concerns and develop effective methods for solving neighborhood problems.
Purpose – This chapter examines some of the dilemmas involved in policing immigrant communities.
Methodology – The chapter is based upon the relatively limited research literature on policing immigrant communities, an ongoing review of the contemporary dynamics of this issue in cities and states using the Internet, and original research in Chicago where a large and rapidly growing immigrant Latino community offers examples of most of the observations made by others.
Findings – The chapter first examines some of the barriers limiting the ability of local police to work effectively in heavily immigrant areas. It then describes how these barriers are exacerbated by the presumed presence of significant concentrations of unauthorized migrants as well as legal residents. Demands that local police in the United States become more involved in enforcing immigration laws have become a point of great contention because this involvement runs at cross-purposes with community policing and other strategies to engage more closely with the community.
Research implications – The magnitude of this conflict is illustrated by current debate over “sanctuary cities.” These are communities where local officials have resisted the enforcement priorities of the federal government, and have continued to emphasize the role of the police in serving all residents.
In 1990 the Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded grants to eight urban and suburban police departments for the purpose of establishing innovative neighborhood-oriented drug demand reduction projects. The projects varied in design and implementation, but all encountered the same implementation problems. The most perplexing of these problems was the inability of the police departments to organize and maintain active community involvement in their projects. The research examines the reasons for the inability of police departments to establish effective partnerships with community residents. The results of this analysis suggest that despite the apparent popularity of the community policing approach, community residents may not want closer interaction with the police nor the responsibility for maintaining social control.
This paper utilizes results of citywide surveys to examine trends in Chicago during the 1990s in the extent of crime, social disorder, and physical decay. These trends depict a tale of three cities, for trends in neighborhood problems differed dramatically for Whites, Blacks, and Latinos. All fared differently, and no group was “average.” By the beginning of the new century, Whites saw some improvement in neighborhood conditions, and Blacks experienced major improvements, but conditions for Latinos actually worsened. Analysis indicates that a combination of language and geographical concentration were among the factors associated with worsening conditions. The paper concludes with the recommendation that the city, the police department, and the community itself redouble their efforts to address the problems facing Latinos in Chicago.
Over the past decade, problem-oriented policing has become a central strategy for policing. In a number of studies, problem-oriented policing has been found to be effective in reducing crime and disorder. However, very little is known about the value of problem-oriented interventions in controlling violent street crime. The National Academy of Sciences' Panel on the Understanding and Control of Violent Behavior suggests that sustained research on problem-oriented policing initiatives that modify places, routine activities, and situations that promote violence could contribute much to the understanding and control of violence. This study evaluates the effects of problem-oriented policing interventions on urban violent crime problems in Jersey City, New Jersey. Twenty-four high-activity, violent crime places were matched into 12 pairs and one member of each pair was allocated to treatment conditions in a randomized block field experiment. The results of the impact evaluation support the growing body of research that asserts focused police efforts can reduce crime and disorder at problem places without causing crime problems to displace to surrounding areas.
Over the last twenty-five years Compstat and community policing have emerged as powerful movements in U.S. police reform. Despite their importance, there are virtually no studies on how they interact when implemented in the same police organization. Based on field work in seven police agencies, this article provides the first systematic research on this co-implementation issue. In doing so it examines the reform literature to illuminate and clarify the key doctrinal elements of Compstat and community policing, including where they are similar and where they differ. Next it describes the patterns of co-implementation that emerged across different sites, including the finding that these reforms operated largely independently. This leads us to consider a broader theoretical explanation for why this should be the case and to provide a basis for enriching future research on the co-implementation of these reforms.
It is hypothesized that collective efficacy, defined as social cohesion among neighbors combined with their willingness to
intervene on behalf of the common good, is linked to reduced violence. This hypothesis was tested on a 1995 survey of 8782
residents of 343 neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. Multilevel analyses showed that a measure of collective efficacy yields
a high between-neighborhood reliability and is negatively associated with variations in violence, when individual-level characteristics,
measurement error, and prior violence are controlled. Associations of concentrated disadvantage and residential instability
with violence are largely mediated by collective efficacy.
Challenges to supervision in community policing: Observations on a pilot project
- Weisburd
Collective action, structural disadvantage and crime
- Skogan
Public Opinion Context: Americans, Race and Police
- Inc Gallup