COMMUNITY POLICING: A QUALITATIVE REVIEW OF COMMUNITY POLICING INTERNATIONALLY AND LOCALLY

Abstract

This study reviews different literature of several different contexts for community policing. There are four contexts that are reviewed (these are areas that have robust community policing programs) are New York City, New York, Italy, Tucson, Arizona, and Nicaragua. This review begins by identifying a definition of community policing for the duration of the study. This definition states that without input from government, police departments, and the community, it may not be true community policing. It is incredibly difficult to identify success within public organizations but looking at details of each community policing program, there are specific elements that help make robust community policing programs. When a program incorporates those 3 crucial elements with some of the recommendations listed in the study, they can work to create positive interactions between police departments and the communities they serve. Throughout this review of the literature about these different programs, there are elements selected that seem to indicate “success” as well as more concrete steps that can be taken to implement community policing. The aim of this study is take a purposefully ambiguous concept and make it more concrete and accessible to police departments looking to make real change. This study takes an ambiguous concept and attempts to make it more concrete while allowing police departments and communities the flexibility to adapt these recommendations to their needs.