Community Policing: An International Literature Review

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Community Policing An International Literature
Review
Jenny Coquilhat Evaluation Officer Organisational
Assurance Group Police National Headquarters NZ
Police Research Symposium Porirua - July 2008
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Purpose of the literature review

• Evaluation of 4 NZ community policing initiatives
• Help to inform evaluation methodology
• Compare international literature and NZ context
• Help to focus the evaluation
• Conveys knowledge and ideas
• Help to identify trends and gaps
• Sets development of international context

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What is community policing?

• Popular contemporary policing approach
• Not entirely new concept
• Various definitions, meanings and practices
• Involves problem solving and community engagement
• Primary objective is positive police-community
  relationships
• Long term strategy

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Origins-urban/rural policing

• 4 schools of thought
• Originates from a rural style of policing
• Rural approach can not be transferred into urban
  setting
• Changing nature of communities
• Rural and urban policing are similar

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Policing strategies
Cordner, G. and Biebel Perkins, E. (2005)
'Problem-Oriented Policing in Practice' in
Criminology and Public Policy, v4, i2, pp158

• Community policing compared to
• - Problem oriented policing
• - Reassurance policing

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Elements of community policing

• Philosophical dimension
• Citizen input
• Broad function
• Personal service
• Tactical dimension
• Positive interaction
• Partnerships
• Problem solving

• Strategic dimension
• Re-oriented operations
• Prevention emphasis
• Geographical focus
• Organisational dimension
• Structure
• Management
• Information

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Benefits of community policing

• Improving police-community relationships and
  community perceptions of police
• Increasing community capacity to deal with issues
• Increasing perceptions of safety
• Reducing crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour

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Barriers to community policing

• Implementation challenges
• Police officer/organisation
• Resident/community
• Police culture
• Specialised units

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What we can learn

• It was hard getting community policing off the
  ground, but it can be made to work Skogan and
  Hartnett, 1998 246
• Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS)
• Strong evidence to show local policing activity
  can have a positive impact on a range of
  outcomes - Tuffin et al, 2006 95
• National Reassurance Policing Programme (NRPP)
• The goal of delivering effective police services
  to all communities is best achieved by a
  commitment to police innovation, community
  satisfaction and program evaluation Mazerolle
  et al, 2003 89
• On the Beat - Queensland

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Questions