An Inside Look at Community Policing Reform: Definitions, Organizational Changes, and Evaluation Findings

Community policing is the latest reform in law enforcement and is quite popular among politicians, citizens, and police managers. It evolved, in part, from a growing dissatisfaction with traditional police practices and a recognition of their shortcomings. The concept of community policing is rather nebulous, and in the field, it assumes many forms, including foot patrol, ministations, and community organizing. Both internal and external factors have limited the success of its implementation, and so far, it has never become fully operational on a large scale. Overall, existing evaluations suggest that community policing can have a favorable impact on the perceptions of police officers and neighborhood residents.