What is community-oriented policing?
Community-oriented policing was introduced in the late 1980s as an alternative to the “professional model” of policing. A philosophy rather than a strict methodology, community-oriented policing proposes that the police and the residents of a community must work together and cooperate to successfully control crime. Under community-oriented policing, police work with citizens to identify and solve crime problems, rather than simply respond to calls for service. Residents give police ideas and information about specific crimes, and also about problem areas and community issues such as abandoned buildings, poor street lighting, and drug houses. Residents and police also work with other city agencies to help improve neighborhood appearances. Criminal Justice Facts, April 2000, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (www.icjia.state.il.
Community-oriented policing was introduced in the late 1980s as an alternative to the “professional model” of policing. A philosophy rather than a strict methodology, community-oriented policing proposes that the police and the residents of a community must work together and cooperate to successfully control crime. Under community-oriented policing, police work with citizens to identify and solve crime problems, rather than simply respond to calls for service. Residents give police ideas and information about specific crimes, and also about problem areas and community issues such as abandoned buildings, poor street lighting, and drug houses. Residents and police also work with other city agencies to help improve neighborhood appearances.
