Community policing

Community policing is a law-enforcement approach that builds partnerships between police and local communities to identify and address public-safety concerns.

Problem-oriented policing: A policing strategy that analyzes recurring problems and develops tailored responses to their causes. Community partnerships help identify recurring problems and shape responses beyond isolated incidents.
Neighborhood policing: A policing model that assigns officers to specific neighborhoods to build familiarity and address local concerns. It applies community-policing principles through sustained neighborhood assignments.
Police accountability: The obligation of police agencies and officers to explain their conduct and face consequences for misconduct. Community participation can create channels for scrutiny, but does not guarantee accountability.
Police reform: Efforts to change police institutions, practices, oversight, or relationships with the public. Community policing is one strand of broader efforts to reform police organizations.
Broken windows theory: A theory linking visible disorder to further disorder and crime, influential in some policing strategies. Its focus on neighborhood conditions has shaped debates about community-oriented police work.
Community engagement: The process of involving community members in decisions and activities that affect them. Police use meetings and other forums to hear concerns and develop local priorities.
Police misconduct: Improper or unlawful conduct by police officers in the course of their duties. Misconduct can undermine the trust that community-policing efforts seek to build.
August Vollmer: An American police chief who promoted professionalization and police education in the early twentieth century. His reform agenda helped shape modern policing, though it differed from later community-oriented models.
Police legitimacy: The belief that police authority is appropriate and that police deserve public cooperation. Trust and perceived fairness influence whether community members cooperate with local police.
Neighborhood watch: A community crime-prevention program in which residents observe and report suspicious activity. It is a common form of resident participation, though it does not replace police responsibility.

Linked from 16 pages