Community Policing Defined

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.

Community Policing is comprised of three key components:

• Community Partnerships
  Collaborative partnerships between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police.
  • Other Government Agencies
  • Community Members/Groups
  • Nonprofits/Service Providers
  • Private Businesses
  • Media
• Organizational Transformation
  The alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving.

Agency Management
• Climate and culture
• Leadership
• Labor relations
• Decision-making
• Strategic planning
• Policies
• Organizational evaluations
• Transparency
• Organizational Structure
Geographic assignment of officers
• Despecialization
• Resources and finances
Personnel
• Recruitment, hiring, and selection
• Personnel supervision/evaluations
• Training
Information Systems (Technology)
• Communication/access to data
• Quality and accuracy of data
• Problem Solving
  The process of engaging in the proactive and systematic examination of identified problems to develop and rigorously evaluate effective responses.
• Scanning: Identifying and prioritizing problems
• Analysis: Researching what is known about the problem
• Response: Developing solutions to bring about lasting reductions in the number and extent of problems
• Assessment: Evaluating the success of the responses
• Using the crime triangle to focus on immediate conditions (victim/offender/location)

To learn more about Community Policing, please refer to our Community Policing Defined publication.