Problem-Solving and Community Policing

Problem-solving and community policing are strategic concepts that seek to redefine the ends and the means of policing. Problem-solving policing focuses police attention on the problems that lie behind incidents, rather than on the incidents only. Community policing emphasizes the establishment of working partnerships between police and communities to reduce crime and enhance security. The prevalent approach that emphasizes professional law enforcement has failed to control or prevent crime, has failed to make policing a profession, and has fostered an unhealthy separation between the police and the communities they serve. Although adoption of these new organizational strategies presents risks of politicization, of diminished crime-fighting effectiveness, and of enhanced police powers, possible gains in strengthened and safer communities make the risks worth taking.