Community Policing

SOCI 2071 Criminology - Term Paper

Name: Chan Ka Mei UID: 3035008635

Community Policing

Introduction

Community Policing emerged in the 1970s (Chappell 2008) first in the United States,

followed by the United Kingdom and eventually growing worldwide (Wong 2001). In

this essay, we would first try to understand what community policing is by looking

into its definition and its elements. Following this, we would probe into the

implementation of community policing. Finally we would study the effectiveness of

this policing, and then the challenges it is meeting.

Definition

The exact or official definition of community policing is still ambiguous (Chappell

and Gibson 2009). From practitioners to researchers, various definitions can be found.

Despite the lack of consensus, similar underlying principles are contained. In general,

maintaining social order is no longer solely the responsibility of the police, but is also

borne by the community (Connell, Miggans and McGloin 2008). Community

participation is emphasized in the sense that they are the contributor to crime control

and safety services (Wong 2001). In addition, instead of reacting to crimes by merely

busting and convicting the criminals, and responding to calls for service and handling

investigations (Mastrofski, Willis and Kochel 2007), solving the underlying problems

is underscored. Community policing is defined as long as it fulfills the above

philosophies.

Elements

According to Cordner, Fridell and Greene, there are mainly four elements in

community policing - accountability, collaboration, decentralization and problem

solving (Connell, Miggans and McGloin 2008). The four elements will be elaborated

respectively.

A. Accountability

Police officers are assigned to different geographic regions that they are responsible

for the crime affairs in that particular area. (Connell, Miggans and McGloin 2008)

The purpose of accountability is two-fold, to develop a thorough knowledge of that

region and to develop a long-term relationship between the police and...