Community Policing and Problem-Oriented Policing

Although many may find community policing and problem-oriented policing to fall in the same category, there is (surprisingly) a difference between the two. For one, community policing has many definitions. For some, it means instituting foot and bicycle patrols and doing acts pertaining to the ideal bond between police officers and their community. While for others it means maintaining order and cleaning up neighborhoods in desperate need of repair (Dunham & Alpert, 2005). However, an idyllic definition of community policing is altering the traditional definition of crime control to community problem-solving and promising to transform the way police do their job. Within the past two decades, there has been much research on community policing. Researchers have found that there are four dimensions of community policing: philosophical, strategic, tactical, and organizational. These dimensions make up most of the common elements of community policing (Dunham & Alpert, 2005). The philosophical dimension (which is arguably the most significant) pertains to the central ideas and beliefs that inspire community policing. The three aspects that make up the philosophical dimension—citizen input, broad police function, and personal service—come together to form a perspective a free society in which citizens have open access to police organizations and have a significant input on policies. This input gives people and their communities an opportunity to influence how their officers patrol their neighborhoods. The methods to achieving the input vary from agency to agency, yet they all want to ensure that the input is reliable. Some police agencies use systematic and periodic community surveys, while others may use open forums and town meetings (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1994). The second aspect of a broad police function emphasizes on the general perspective of police function rather than a narrow focus on law enforcement. And with personal service, the third

References: • Bureau of Justice Assistance. 1994, A Police Guide to Surveying Citizens and Their Environment. Washington, DC. • Dunaham & Alpert, Critical Issues in Policing (5th ed.); p.36-37; p.402-417;p.421 • Goldstein, Herman, 1979. Improving Policing: A Problem-Oriented Approach, Crime & Delinquency p. 236-243 • Goldstein, Herman, 2001. What is Problem-Oriented Policing? • Greene, Jack R. and Stephen D. Mastrofski, eds. 1988. Community Policing: Rhetoric or Reality? New York: Praeger.