Community policing, as a philosophy, supports the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues, including crime, social disorder, and fear of crime—as opposed to responding to crime after it occurs. Community policing expands the traditional police mandate. It broadens the focus of fighting crime to include solving community problems and forming partnerships with people in the community so average citizens can contribute to the policing process. Originating during police reform efforts of the 1970s, the philosophy of community policing is currently widespread and embraced by many citizens, police administrators, scholars, and local and federal politicians. What sorts of collaborative partnerships have evolved between policing agencies and the individuals and communities they serve? How do police departments engage in systematic examination of identified problems to develop effective responses? How have police departments aligned their organizational structures to best support community partnerships and proactive problem solving? Just how effective have efforts at community policing been? These questions and more are explored within the pages of this new reference work. Features: A collection of 150 to 175 entries are organized in A-to-Z fashion in one volume available in both electronic and print formats. Signed entries, authored by significant figures in the field, each conclude with Cross-References and Suggestions for Further Readings to guide students to in-depth resources. Brief "What Works" case studies within appropriate entries profile community policing programs and strategies as tried in various cities and communities. Although organized in A-to-Z fashion, a thematic "Reader′s Guide" in the front matter groups related entries by broad topic areas (e.g., Foundations; Methods & Practices; Legislation & National Organizations; Changing Agency Culture; Planning & Implementation; Training & Curriculum; Assessment & Evaluation; etc.). Also included in the front matter, a Chronology provides students with historical perspective of the development of community policing. The entire work concludes with a Resources appendix listing classic books, journals, and associations, followed by a comprehensive Index.

Community policing has become the new orthodoxy for police in the United States, as well as in other countries around the world. Although the movement's philosophies and practices are spreading rapidly, little is known about the range of ongoing activities, the components of these experimental initiatives, the problems and challenges encountered, and the level of success in achieving objectives. Providing a clear picture of national and international trends in progressive police administration, the book explores the cutting edge of this movement with some of the best empirical studies to date. The editor has gathered together the expertise of widely recognized researchers to address the fundamental question of whether community policing is on the road to fulfilling its many promises. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the authors present a thorough evaluation of the social and organizational processes involved in planning and implementing community policing, as well as the effects of such programs.

A critical look at the realities of community policing in South Los Angeles The Limits of Community Policing addresses conflicts between police and communities. Luis Daniel Gascón and Aaron Roussell depart from traditional conceptions, arguing that community policing—popularized for decades as a racial panacea—is not the solution it seems to be. Tracing this policy back to its origins, they focus on the Los Angeles Police Department, which first introduced community policing after the high-profile Rodney King riots. Drawing on over sixty interviews with officers, residents, and stakeholders in South LA’s “Lakeside” precinct, they show how police tactics amplified—rather than resolved—racial tensions, complicating partnership efforts, crime response and prevention, and accountability. Gascón and Roussell shine a new light on the residents of this neighborhood to address the enduring—and frequently explosive—conflicts between police and communities. At a time when these issues have taken center stage, this volume offers a critical understanding of how community policing really works.

In nations all over the world, community policing has been found extremely beneficial in improving public confidence in the police. Community-oriented policing and police-citizen cooperation is now the accepted framework for all progressive police departments. Drawn from the proceedings at the 2010 International Police Executive Symposium (IPES) in

The police are perhaps the most visible representation of government. They are charged with what has been characterized as an "impossible" mandate -- control and prevent crime, keep the peace, provide public services -- and do so within the constraints of democratic principles. The police are trusted to use deadly force when it is called for and are allowed access to our homes in cases of emergency. In fact, police departments are one of the few government agencies that can be mobilized by a simple phone call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are ubiquitous within our society, but their actions are often not well understood. The Oxford Handbook of Police and Policing brings together research on the development and operation of policing in the United States and elsewhere. Accomplished policing researchers Michael D. Reisig and Robert J. Kane have assembled a cast of renowned scholars to provide an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the institution of policing. The different sections of the Handbook explore policing contexts, strategies, authority, and issues relating to race and ethnicity. The Handbook also includes reviews of the research methodologies used by policing scholars and considerations of the factors that will ultimately shape the future of policing, thus providing persuasive insights into why and how policing has developed, what it is today, and what to expect in the future. Aimed at a wide audience of scholars and students in criminology and criminal justice, as well as police professionals, the Handbook serves as the definitive resource for information on this important institution.

In recent years, community policing has transformed American law enforcement by promising to build trust between citizens and officers. Today, three-quarters of American police departments claim to embrace the strategy. But decades before the phrase was coined, the New York City Housing Authority Police Department (HAPD) had pioneered community-based crime-fighting strategies. The Last Neighborhood Cops reveals the forgotten history of the residents and cops who forged community policing in the public housing complexes of New York City during the second half of the twentieth century. Through a combination of poignant storytelling and historical analysis, Fritz Umbach draws on buried and confidential police records and voices of retired officers and older residents to help explore the rise and fall of the HAPD's community-based strategy, while questioning its tactical effectiveness. The result is a unique perspective on contemporary debates of community policing and historical developments chronicling the influence of poor and working-class populations on public policy making.

Reveals the reasons why community policing rarely, if ever, works. Drawing on data he collected in diverse Seattle neighborhoods from interviews with residents, observation of police officers, and attendance at community-police meetings, Herbert identifies the many obstacles that make effective collaboration between city dwellers and the police so unlikely to succeed. At the same time, he shows that residents' pragmatic ideas about the role of community differ dramatically from those held by social theorists. - from publisher information.