Evaluating community policing: problems and prospects

Outlines alternative research strategies for evaluation of Community policing (CP). Briefly discusses the failure of policing as a formal mechanism of social control and traces the evolution of CP. Identifies features which provide a paradigm for CP. Gives lists of objectives to determine whether CP is being implemented and is successful. Compares methods of data collection. Examines two types of quasi‐experimental designs for evaluation: pre‐test/post‐test group or interrupted time‐series design. Proposes causal‐comparative research as an alternative to these designs.