The practice has several names, community oriented policing, problem oriented policing, neighborhood oriented policing, and problem solving policing, …show more content…
but the theory and practices are the same (Peaks & Glensor 1999).
Community oriented policing was developed in the 1960s as the strain between police and African American communities grew.
Policing was changing from a more crime-fighting model to a model that needed the cooperation of the community. (Mirsky 2009).
With the start of Community oriented policing began the emphasis on police officers developing relationships with community members. Such practices as increased foot patrols in urban area, development of community meetings with police involvement, proactive style of policing and a shift from incident based to problem based policing (Apler 2010).
Development of programs such as COPS in 2000 were created to help departments with the changing of policy. COPS listed, building partnerships with the community, problem solving, crime prevention and organizational change, as the major aspects to community oriented policing and implementation (XU & Flaming 2005).
The effectiveness of community policing is debatable, as the process and implementation of programs and policing practices varies from community to community. Some communities see the presents and proactive nature of police as a positive thing, while other communities see it as a “crack down” (Reising & Parks 2004). However, the importance of community members having positive and active relationships with police departments cannot be understated, especially as tensions between the groups seem to be on the
rise.