Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-jwnkl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-09T14:20:18.497Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Critic

Community Policing: A Skeptical View

from Part I - Community Policing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2019

David Weisburd
Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia
Anthony A. Braga
Affiliation:
Northeastern University, Boston
Get access

Summary

About three decades ago, a few American police leaders caught the wave of community policing reform, and now just about everybody has gone surfing. If recent nationwide polls of police are indicative, many lower-ranking officers are catching the community policing wave (Mastrofski, 2017). Early interest in this reform can be attributed to police anxieties in the 1960s and 70s about skyrocketing crime and urban violence, unmet rising expectations from the civil rights movement, and middle-class alienation from government authority (Fogelson, 1977: ch. 11). Like a “perfect storm” these forces converged, stimulating criticism from blue ribbon commissions and a daily drumbeat of negative press for police. Calls for change were issued, some radical: community control of policing, deprofessionalization, and reassignment of some core police tasks to other government agencies and the private sector. Alarmed and intent on ending this crisis of legitimacy (LaFree, 1998), progressive police and scholars began to explore ways to make American police both more effective and more democratic without losing many of the advances made in policing in the previous half century (Goldstein, 1977; 1990; Trojanowicz & Bucqueroux, 1990; Wilson & Kelling, 1982). The resulting community policing reforms were influenced by fashions in organization development intended to make agencies less bureaucratic, more responsive to the “customer,” and more results oriented (Mastrofski, 1998; Mastrofski and Ritti, 2000). Although early twenty-first-century concerns about the threat of terrorism may have dissipated federal financial support for community policing, highly publicized events featuring violence between police and the community have stoked alarm about the state of police–community relations, resulting in a national blue-ribbon commission document that once again advances community policing as a key to American policing that is more effective and legitimate (President’s Task Force, 2015: 43): “Recommendation: Community policing should be infused throughout the culture and organizational structure of law enforcement agencies.”

Type
Chapter
Information
Police Innovation
Contrasting Perspectives
, pp. 45 - 68
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cordner, G. (2014). Community policing. In Reisig, M. D., & Kane, R. J. (eds.), Police and Policing (pp. 148171). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Engel, R. S., & Worden, R. E. (2006). Police officers’ attitudes, behavior, and supervisory influences: An analysis of problem solving. Criminology, 41(1), 131–66.Google Scholar
Fogelson, R. M. (1977). Big City Police. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Gascon, G., & Foglesong, T. (2010). Making Policing More Affordable. New Perspectives in Policing. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.Google Scholar
Gill, C., Weisburd, D., Telep, C. W., Vitter, Z., & Bennett, T. (2014). Community-oriented policing to reduce crime, disorder and fear and increase satisfaction and legitimacy among citizens: A systematic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 10, 399428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, H. (1977). Policing a Free Society. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Goldstein, H. (1990). Problem-Oriented Policing. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Gould, J. B., & Mastrofski, S. D. (2004). Suspect searches: Assessing police behavior under the Constitution. Criminology and Public Policy, 3, 316362.Google Scholar
Greene, J. R. (2004). Community policing and organization change. In Skogan, W. G. (ed.), Community Policing: Can It Work? (pp. 3053). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Greene, J. R., Bergman, W. T., & McLaughlin, E. J. (1994). Implementing community policing: Cultural and structural change in police organizations. In Rosenbaum, D. (ed.), The Challenge of Community Policing: Testing the Promises (pp. 92109). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Herbert, S. (1998). Police subculture reconsidered. Criminology, 32(2), 343370.Google Scholar
Kelling, G. L., & Moore, M. H. (1988). From political to reform to community: The evolving strategy of police. In Greene, J. R., & Mastrofski, S. D. (eds.), Community Policing: Rhetoric or Reality (pp. 325). New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Kerley, K. R., & Benson, M. (2000). Does community-oriented policing help build stronger communities? Police Quarterly, 3(1), 4669.Google Scholar
Klockars, C. B. (1988). The rhetoric of community policing. In Greene, J. R., & Mastrofski, S. D. (eds.), Community Policing: Rhetoric or Reality? (pp. 239258). New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Kringen, A. L., & Kringen, J. L. (2017). Outside the academy: Learning community policing through community engagement. Ideas in American Policing 20. Washington, DC: Police Foundation.Google Scholar
LaFree, G. (1998). Losing Legitimacy: Street Crime and the Decline of Institutions in America. Boulder, CO: Westview Perseus.Google Scholar
Lyons, W. (1999). The Politics of Community Policing: Rearranging the Power to Punish. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, E. R. (1997). Structural change in large municipal police organizations during the community policing era. Justice Quarterly, 14, 547576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, E. R. (2014). Police organizations and the iron cage of rationality. In Reisig, M. D., & Kane, R. L. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Police and Policing (pp. 6898). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Maguire, E. R., & Katz, C. M. (2002). Community policing, loose coupling, and sensemaking in American police agencies. Justice Quarterly, 19, 501534.Google Scholar
Maguire, E. R., & King, W. R. (2004). Trends in the policing industry. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 593, 1541.Google Scholar
Maguire, E. R., & Mastrofski, S. D. (2000). Patterns of community policing in the United States. Police Quarterly, 3, 445.Google Scholar
Maguire, E. R., Shin, Y., Zhao, J., & Hassell, K. D. (2003). Structural change in large police agencies during the 1990s. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 26, 251275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, E., & Wells, W. (2009). Implementing Community Policing: Lessons from 12 Agencies. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S. D. (1998). Community policing and police organization structure. In Brodeur, J. (ed.), Community Policing and the Evaluation of Police Service Delivery (pp. 161189). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S. (2004). Controlling street-level police discretion. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 593, 100118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastrofski, S. (2009). Measuring the quality of street-level police work. Paper presented at the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security Policing Symposium: New Directions for Policing Serious and Complex Crime. March 10. Sydney, AU: CEPS.Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S. D. (2017). The receptivity of the police to community-oriented reforms. ACJS Today, 42(3), 107117.Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S. D., & Ritti, R. R. (2000). Making sense of community policing: A theoretical perspective. Police Practice and Research Journal, 1, 183210.Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S., Snipes, J., & Supina, A. (1996). Compliance on demand: The public’s response to specific police requests. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 33, 269305.Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S. D., & Willis, J. J. (2010). Police organization continuity and change: Into the Twenty-first Century. Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, 39, 55144.Google Scholar
Mastrofski, S. D., Willis, J. J., & Kochel, T. R. (2007). The challenges of implementing community policing in the United States. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 1(2), 223234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastrofski, S. D., Worden, R. E., & Snipes, J. B. (1995). Law enforcement in a time of community policing. Criminology, 33, 539563.Google Scholar
McCluskey, J. D., Mastrofski, S. D., & Parks, R. B. (1999). To acquiesce or rebel: Predicting citizen compliance with police requests. Police Quarterly, 2, 389416.Google Scholar
Moore, M. H. (1992). Problem-solving and community policing. In Tonry, M., & Morris, N. (eds.), Modern Policing (pp. 99158). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Morabito, M. S. (2010). Understanding community policing as an innovation: Patterns of adoption. Crime and Delinquency, 56(4), 564–587.Google Scholar
Morin, R., Parker, K., Stepler, R., & Mercer, A. (2017). Behind the Badge. Social & Demographic Trends. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/01/11/reimagining-the-police-through-training-and-reforms/.Google Scholar
Murphy, C. (1993). The development, impact and implications of community policing in Canada. In Cacko, J., & Nankoo, S. E. (eds.), Community Policing in Canada (pp. 1326). Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.Google Scholar
Novak, K. J., Frank, J., Smith, B. W., & Engel, R. S. (2002). Revisiting the decision to arrest: Comparing beat and community officers. Crime and Delinquency, 48(1), 7098.Google Scholar
Ofer, U. (2016). Getting it right: Building effective civilian review boards to oversee police. Seton Hall Law Review, 46, 10331062.Google Scholar
Parks, R. B., Mastrofski, S. D., DeJong, C., & Gray, M. K. (1999). How officers spend their time with the community. Justice Quarterly, 16, 483518.Google Scholar
Parks, R. B., Mastrofski, S. D., Reiss, A. J. Jr., Worden, R. E., Terrill, W. C., DeJong, C., Stroshine, M., & Shepard, R. (1998). St. Petersburg Project on Policing Neighborhoods: A Study of the Police and the Community. Report to the National Institute of Justice. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.Google Scholar
President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. (2015). Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.Google Scholar
Reiss, A. J. Jr. (1992). Police organization in the twentieth century.” In Tonry, M., & Morris, N. (eds.), Modern Policing (pp. 5198). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Ritti, R. R., & Mastrofski, S. D. (2002). The institutionalization of community policing: A study of the presentation of the concept in two law enforcement journals. Final report to the National Institute of justice. Manassas, VA: George Mason University.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, D. P., & Wilkinson, D. L. (2004). Can police adapt? Tracking the effects of organizational reform over six years. In Skogan, W. (ed.), Community Policing: Can It Work? (pp. 79108). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Roth, J. A., Roehl, J., & Johnson, C. C. (2004). Trends in community policing. In Skogan, W. (ed.), Community Policing: Can It Work? (pp. 329). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Roth, J. A., Ryan, J. F., Gaffigan, S. J., Koper, C. S., Moore, M. H., Roehl, J., Johnson, C. C., Moore, G. E., White, R. M., Buerger, M. E., Langston, E. A., & Thacher, D. (2000). National Evaluation of the COPS Program – Title I of the 1994 Crime Act. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.Google Scholar
Sadd, S., & Grinc, R. (1994). Innovative neighborhood oriented policing: An evaluation of community policing programs in eight cities. In Rosenbaum, D. (ed.), The Challenge of Community Policing: Testing the Promises (pp. 2752). Sage: Thousand Oaks.Google Scholar
Sherman, L. W. (1997). Policing for crime prevention. In Sherman, L. W., Gottfredson, D., MacKenzie, D., Eck, J., Reuter, P., & Bushway, S. (eds.), Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising? (pp. Ch. 8: 158). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.Google Scholar
Sherman, L. W., & Eck, J. E. (2002). Policing for crime prevention. In Sherman, L. W., Farrington, D. P., Welsh, B. C., & MacKenzie, D. L. (eds.), Evidence-Based Crime Prevention (pp. 295329). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Skogan, W. G. (1990). Disorder and Decline: Crime and the Spiral of Decay in American Cities. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Skogan, W. G. (2004). Representing the community in community policing. In Skogan, W. G. (ed.), Community Policing: Can It Work? (pp. 5775). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Skogan, W. G. (2006a). Police and Community in Chicago: A Tale of Three Cities. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Skogan, W. G. (2006b). The promise of community policing. In Weisburd, D., & Braga, A. A. (eds.), Police Innovation: Contrasting Perspectives (pp. 2743). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Skogan, W., & Frydl, K. (2004). Fairness and Effectiveness in policing: The Evidence. (Committee to Review Research on Policy and Practices, Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Skogan, W. G., & Hartnett, S. M. (1997). Community Policing, Chicago Style. New York: Oxford.Google Scholar
Skogan, W. G., Steiner, L., Benitez, C., Bennis, J., Borchers, S., DuBois, J., Gondocs, R., Hartnett, S., Kim, S. Y., & Rosenbaum, S. (2004). Community Policing in Chicago, Year Ten: An Evaluation of Chicago’s Alternative Policing Strategy. Springfield, IL: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.Google Scholar
Sparrow, M. K., Moore, M. H., & Kennedy, D. M. (1990). Beyond 911: A New Era for Policing. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Terrill, W., & Mastrofski, S. D. (2004). Working the street: Does community policing matter? In Skogan, W. G. (ed.), Community Policing: Can It Work? (pp. 109135). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Tien, J. M., & Rich, T. F. (1994). The Hartford COMPASS Program: Experiences with a weed and seed-related program. In Rosenbaum, D. (ed.), The Challenge of Community Policing: Testing the Promises (pp. 192206). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Tolbert, P. S., & Zucker, L. G. .(1983). Institutional sources of change in the formal structure of organizations: The diffusion of civil service reform 1880–1935. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 2239.Google Scholar
Trojanowicz, R. C., & Bucqeroux, B. (1990). Community Policing: A Contemporary Perspective. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Tuffin, R., Morris, J., & Poole, A. (2006). An Evaluation of the Impact of the National Reassurance Policing Programme (HORS 296). London, UK: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/115825/hors296.pdf.Google Scholar
Weisburd, D., & Majmundar, M. K. (2018). Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime and Communities (Committee on Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime, Communities and Civil Liberties, Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Weisburd, D., McElroy, J., & Hardyman, P. (1988). Supervision in Community Policing: Observations on a Pilot Project. American Journal of Police, 7(2), 2950.Google Scholar
Weisburd, D., Morris, N. A., & Ready, J. (2008). Risk focused policing at places: An experimental evaluation. Justice Quarterly, 25(1), 163200.Google Scholar
Willis, J. J., Mastrofski, S. D., & Kochel., T. R. (2010). The Co-Implementation of Compstat and Community Policing. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 969980.Google Scholar
Wilson, J. Q. (1968). Varieties of Police Behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. Q., & Kelling, G. L. (1982). Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety. Atlantic Monthly, 249, 2938.Google Scholar
Worden, R. E. (1989). Situational and attitudinal explanations of police behavior: A theoretical reappraisal and empirical assessment. Law & Society Review, 23, 667711.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Worden, R. E., & McLean, S. J. (2014). Police discretion in law enforcement. In Bruinsma, G., & Weisburd, D. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice (pp. 35963607). New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Wycoff, M. A. (1994). Community Policing Strategies: Draft Final Report. Washington, DC: Police Foundation.Google Scholar
Zhao, J., Ren, L., & Lovrich, N. (2010). Police organizational structures during the 1990s: An application of contingency theory. Police Quarterly, 13(2), 209232.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×