Some have argued that community policing represents a reform that is capable of increasing neighborhood social capital. Collaborative relationships between police and communities are expected to enhance the capacity of residents to collectively ameliorate neighborhood conditions. This study examines the relationship between police-community coproduction and neighborhood-level social capital using data from a survey of neighborhood leaders. Results provide partial support for the claim that community policing is related to social capital. More specifically, collective social capacity was shown to be higher in neighborhoods where residents perceive the police to be more accessible. Future considerations for the study of community policing and social capital are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bayley, D. H.
(1994). Police for the future. New York: Oxford University Press.
2.
Bennett, S.
(1998). Community organizations and crime. In D. Karp (Ed.), Community justice (pp. 31-46). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
3.
Bennett, T.
(1994). Community policing on the ground: Developments in Britain. In D. P. Rosenbaum (Ed.), The challenge of community policing: Testing the promises (pp. 224-246). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4.
Buerger, M. E.
(1994). A tale of two targets: Limitations of community anticrime actions. Crime & Delinquency, 40, 411-436.
5.
Bursik, R. J.
, & Grasmik, H. G. (1993). Neighborhoods and crime: The dimensions of effective community control. New York: Lexington Books.
6.
Coleman, J. S.
(1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(S), 95-120.
7.
Cordner, G. W.
(2000). Community policing: Elements and effects. In G. P. Alpert & A. R. Piquero (Eds.), Community policing: Contemporary readings (2nd ed., pp. 45-62). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
8.
Correia, M. E.
(2000). Citizen involvement: Howcommunity factors affect progressive policing. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
9.
Coulton, C. J.
, Korbin, J. E., & Su, M. (1996). Measuring neighborhood context for young children in an urban area. American Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 5-32.
10.
Crank, J. P.
, & Langworthy, R. H. (1996). Fragmented centralization and the organization of the police. Policing and Society, 6, 213-229.
11.
Duffee, D. E.
, Fluellen, R., & Renauer, B. C. (1999). Community variables in community policing. Police Quarterly, 2, 5-35.
12.
Duffee, D. E.
, Renauer, B. C., Scott, J. D., Chermak, S., & McGarrell, E. F. (2001). Measuring community building involving the police: The final research report of the Police-Community Interaction Project. Albany, NY: University at Albany Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center.
13.
Gist, M. E.
(1987). Self-efficacy: Implications for organizational behavior and human resource management. Academy of Management Review, 17, 98-116.
14.
Kerley, K. R.
, & Benson, M. L. (2000). Does community-oriented policing help build stronger communities?. Police Quarterly, 3, 46-69.
15.
Kurki, L.
(2000). Restorative and community justice in the United States. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice, a review of research (Vol. 27). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
16.
Lappe, F. M.
, & Du Bois, P. M. (1997). Building social capital without looking backward. National Civic Review, 86, 119-128.
17.
Lindsley, D. H.
, Brass, D. J., & Thomas, J. B. (1995). Efficacy-performance spirals: A multilevel perspective. Academy of Management Review, 20, 645-678.
18.
Lynch, J. P.
, Sabol, W. J., & Planty, M. (1999, July). Crime, coercion and community: The effects of arrest policies on informal social control in neighborhoods. Paper presented at the Annual Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation, Sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC.
19.
Lyons, W.
(1999). The politics of community policing: Rearranging the power to punish. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
20.
Maguire, E. R.
, & Mastrofski, S. D. (2000). Patterns of community policing in the United States. Police Quarterly, 3, 4-45.
21.
Mattessich, P.
, & Monsey, B. (1997). Community building: What makes it work, a review of factors influencing successful community building. Saint Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.
22.
Mischel, L. J.
, & Northcraft, G. B. (1997). “I think we can, I think we can”...:The role of efficacy beliefs in group and team effectiveness. Advances in Group Processes, 14, 177-197.
23.
Perkins, D. D.
, Florin, P., Rich, R. C., Wandersman, A., & Chavis, D. M. (1990). Participation and the social and physical environment of residential blocks: Crime and community context. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 83-115.
24.
Pino, N. W.
(2001). Community policing and social capital. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 24, 200-215.
25.
Rabrenovic, G.
(1996). Community builders: A tale of neighborhood mobilization in two cities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
26.
Reed, W. E.
(1999). The politics of community policing: The case of Seattle. New York: Garland.
27.
Rose, D.
, & Clear, T. (1998). Incarceration, social capital, and crime: Implications for social disorganization theory. Criminology, 36, 441-480.
28.
Sampson, R. J.
(1999). What “community” supplies. In R. F. Ferguson & W. T. Dickens (Eds.), Urban problems and community development (pp. 241-292). Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
29.
Sampson, R. J.
, & Groves, W. B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social-disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 774-802.
30.
Sampson, R. J.
, Morenoff, J. D., & Earls, F. (1999). Beyond social capital: Spatial dynamics of collective efficacy for children. American Sociological Review, 64, 633-660.
31.
Sampson, R. J.
, Raudensbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918-924.
32.
Shaw, C. R.
, & McKay, H. D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
33.
Shinn, M.
(1990). Mixing and matching: Levels of conceptualization, measurement, and statistical analysis in community research. In P. Tolan, C. Keys, F. Chertok, & L. Jason (Eds.), Researching community psychology: Issues of theory and methods (pp. 111-126). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
34.
Skogan, W. G.
(1988). Community organizations and crime. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Vol. 10, pp. 39-78). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
35.
Skogan, W. G.
, & Hartnett, S. M. (1997). Community policing, Chicago style. New York: Oxford University Press.
36.
Skogan, W. G.
, Hartnett, S. M., DuBois, J., Comey, J. T., Kaiser, M., & Lovig, J. H. (1999). On the beat: Police and community problem solving. Boulder, CO: Westview.
37.
Skogan, W. G.
, Hartnett, S. M., DuBois, J., Comey, J. T., Twedt-Ball, K., Gudell, J. E., et al. (1999). Community policing in Chicago, years five and six: An interim report. Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
38.
Skogan, W. G.
, Steiner, L., DuBois, J., Gudell, J. E., Fagan, A., Kim, J., et al. (2000). Community policing in Chicago, year seven: An interim report. Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
39.
Skogan, W. G.
, & Wycoff, M. A. (1986). Storefront police offices: The Houston field test. In D. P. Rosenbaum (Ed.), Community crime prevention: Does it work? (pp. 179-199). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
40.
Skolnick, J. H.
, & Bayley, D. H. (1988). Theme and variation in community policing. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Vol. 10, pp. 1-37). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
41.
Taylor, R. B.
(1997). Social order and disorder of street blocks and neighborhoods: Ecology, microecology, and the systemic model of social disorganization. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 34, 113-155.
42.
Thurman, Q. C.
(1995). The police as a community-based resource. In P. Adams & K. Nelson (Eds.), Reinvesting human services: Community and family-centered practice (pp. 175-187). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
43.
Unger, D. G.
, & Wandersman, A. (1983). Neighboring and its role in block organizations: An exploratory report. American Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 291-300.
44.
Wallis, A.
, Crocker, J. P., & Schechter, B. (1998). Social capital and community building: Part one. National Civic Review, 87, 253-271.
45.
Wycoff, M. A.
(1998). The benefits of community policing: Evidence and conjecture. In J. R. Green & S. D. Mastrofski (Eds.), Community policing: Rhetoric or reality (pp. 103-120). New York: Praeger.
46.
Zhao, J.
(1996). Why police organizations change: A study of community-oriented policing. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
