Community policing has become the paradigm of contemporary policing, evolving significantly over the past 20 years. That which was called community policing in the late 1970s and early 1980s only somewhat resembles community policing as it is practiced today. This article presents a conceptual framework characterizing community policing as having moved through three generations, which can be labeled appropriately as innovation, diffusion, and institutionalization. Conceptualizing community policing as having evolved through three generations can alleviate some of the confusion over the term, and knowing where we have been can assist us in knowing where community policing is going in the future.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alpert, G. P., & Piquero, A. (1998). Community policing: Contemporary readings. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
2.
Angell, J. (1971). Toward an alternative to the classic police organizational arrangement: A democratic model. Criminology, 8, 185-206.
3.
Associated Press. (1996, October 29). Finding promised cops a tough task. Parkersburg News, p. 6B-6B
4.
Bayley, D. H., & Shearing, C. D. (1996). The future of policing. Law and Society Review, 30,585-606.
5.
Brown, L. P., & Wycoff, M. A. (1987). Policing Houston: Reducing fear and improving services. Crime and Delinquency, 33, 71-89.
6.
Bureau of Justice Assistance. (1993). Problem-oriented drug enforcement: A community-based approach for effective policing. Washington, DC: Author.
7.
Chernoff, H. A., Kelly, C. M., & Kroger, J. R. (1996). The politics of crime. Harvard Journal on Legislation, 33, 527-579.
8.
Clinton, W. J. (1995). Public papers of the presidents of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
9.
Clinton, W. J. (1998). Public papers of the presidents of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
10.
Cohn, A. W., & Viano, E. C. (1976). Police community relations: Images, roles, realities. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
11.
Community policing. (1998, October 6). All things considered. Washington, DC: National Public Radio.
12.
Community Policing Consortium [Online]. (1999). Available: http://www.communitypolicing.org
13.
Cordner, G. W. (1986). Fear of crime and the police: An evaluation of a fear-reduction strategy. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 14, 223-233.
14.
Department of Justice. (1994). The violent crime control and law enforcement act of 1994: Briefing book. Washington, DC: Author.
15.
Downs, A. (1994). Inside bureaucracy. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
16.
Eck, J. E., & Spelman, W. (1987). Problem solving: Problem-oriented policing in Newport News. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
17.
Edwards, S., & Hayeslip, D. (1997, March). Community policing: Where are we now? Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Louisville, KY.
18.
Ericson, R., & Carriere, K. (1994). The fragmentation of criminology. In D. Nelken (Ed.), The futures of criminology (pp. 89-109). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (1999). Uniform crime reports—1998. Washington, DC: Author.
20.
Gallup, G. (1996). Community policing survey. Wilmington, NY: Scholarly Resources, Inc.
21.
General Accounting Office. (1995). Community policing: Information on the “cops on the beat” grant program. Washington, DC: Author.
22.
General Accounting Office. (1997). Community policing: Issues related to the design, operation, and management of the grant program. Washington, DC: Author.
23.
Germann, A. C. (1969). Community policing: An assessment. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 60, 89-96.
24.
Goldstein, H. (1977). Policing a free society. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
25.
Goldstein, H. (1979). Improving policing: A problem-oriented approach. Crime and Delinquency, 25, 236-258.
26.
Goldstein, H. (1987). Toward community-oriented policing: Potential, basic requirements, and threshold questions. Crime and Delinquency, 33, 6-30.
27.
Goldstein, H. (1993). The new police: Confronting complexity (National Institute of Justice, Research in Brief). Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
28.
Gray, V. (1973). Innovation in the states: A diffusion study. American Political Science Review, 62, 1174-1185.
29.
Greene, J. R. (1987). Foot patrol and community policing: Past practices and future prospects. American Journal of Police, 6, 1-15.
30.
Greene, J. R., & Mastrofski, S. D. (1988). Community policing: Rhetoric or reality.New York: Praeger.
31.
Greene, J. R., & Taylor, R. P. (1988). Community-based policing and foot patrol: Issues of theory and evaluation. In J. R. Greene & S. D. Mastrofski (Eds.), Community policing: Rhetoric or reality (pp. 195-224). New York: Praeger.
32.
Holcomb, R. L. (1954). The police and the public. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.
33.
Johnson, T. A., Misner, G. E., & Brown, L. P. (1981). The police and society: An environment for collaboration and confrontation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
34.
Kane, R. J. (2000). Permanent beat assignments in association with community policing: Assessing the impact on police officer's field activity. Justice Quarterly, 17, 259-280.
35.
Kelling, G. L. (1988). Police and communities: The quiet revolution (Monograph). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
36.
Kelling, G. L., & Moore, M. H. (1988). From political to reform to community: The evolving strategy of police. In J. R. Greene & S. D. Mastrofski (Eds.), Community policing: Rhetoric or reality (pp. 3-25). New York: Praeger.
37.
Kraska, P. B., & Cubellis, L. J. (1997). Militarizing Mayberry and beyond: Making sense of American paramilitary policing. Justice Quarterly, 14, 607-629.
38.
Kratcoski, P. C., & Dukes, D. (1995). Issues in community policing. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
39.
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
40.
Lasley, J. R., Vernon, R. L., & Dery, G. M. (1995). Operation cul-de-sac: LAPD's “total community” policing program. In P. C. Kratcoski & D. Dukes (Eds.), Issues in community policing (pp. 51-67). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
41.
Leyden, K., Kilwein, J., & Oliver, W. M. (2000, February). Is crime control policy another form of pork barrel politics? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Seattle, WA.
42.
Lyons, W. (1999). The politics of community policing: Rearranging the power to punish. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
43.
Marion, N. E. (1997). Symbolic policies in Clinton's crime control agenda. Buffalo Criminal Law Review, 1, 67-108.
44.
Mastrofski, S. D., Worden, R. E., & Snipes, J. P. (1995). Law enforcement in a time of community policing. Criminology, 33, 539-563.
45.
Mazzerolle, L. G., Ready, J., Terrill, W., & Waring, E. (2000). Problem-oriented policing in public housing: The Jersey City evaluation. Justice Quarterly, 17, 129-158.
46.
McElroy, J. E., Cosgrove, C. A., & Sadd, S. (1993). Community policing: The CPOP in New York. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
47.
McEwen, T. (1995). National assessment program: 1994 survey results. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
48.
Moore, M. H. (1994). Research synthesis and policy implications. In D. P. Rosenbaum (Ed.), The challenge of community policing: Testing the premises (pp. 285-299). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
49.
National Center for Community Policing [Online]. (1999). Available: http://www.ssc.msu.edu/%7E/cj/cp/cptoc.html
50.
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services [Online]. (1999). Available: http://www.usdoj.gov/./cops/
51.
Oliver, W. M. (1998). Community-oriented policing: A systemic approach to policing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
52.
Oliver, W. M. (1999). The West Virginia regional community policing institute (RCPI) West Virginia community policing organizational assessment. Charleston: West Virginia Regional Community Policing Institute.
53.
Oliver, W. M. (in press). Community policing in West Virginia: An organizational assessment survey. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal.
54.
Oliver, W. M., & Bartgis, E. (1998). Community policing: A conceptual framework. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 21, 490-509.
55.
Pelfrey, W. V., Jr. (1998). Precipitating factors of paradigmatic shift in policing: The origin of the community policing era. In G. P. Alpert & A. Piquero (Eds.), Community policing: Contemporary readings (pp. 79-92). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
56.
Police Executive Research Forum. (1996). Themes and variations in community policing: Case studies in community policing. Washington, DC: Author.
Poveda, T. G. (1996). Clinton, crime, and the justice department. Social Justice, 21, 73-84.
59.
Radelet, L. A. (1973). The police and the community. Encino, CA: Glencoe.
60.
Reaves, B. A., & Goldberg, A. L. (1999). Law enforcement management and administrative statistics, 1997: Data for individual state and local agencies with 100 or more officers. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
61.
Reed, W. E. (1999). The politics of community policing: The case of Seattle. New York: Garland.
62.
Rogers, E. M. (1983). The diffusion of innovations (3rd ed.). New York: Free Press.
63.
Rosenbaum, D. P. (1986). Community crime prevention: Does it work?Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
64.
Rosenbaum, D. P. (1994). The challenge of community policing: Testing the promises. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
65.
Sadd, S., & Grinc, R. (1994). Innovative neighborhood oriented policing. In D. P. Rosenbaum (Ed.), The challenge of community policing: Testing the promises (pp. 27-52). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
66.
Savage, R. L. (1978). Policy innovativeness in the states. Journal of Politics, 40, 212-224.
67.
Savage, R. L. (1981). The diffusion of information approach. In D. D. Nimmo & K. R. Sanders (Eds.), Handbook of political communication (pp. 101-119). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
68.
Savage, R. L. (1985a). Diffusion research traditions and the spread of policy innovations in a federal system. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 15, 1-27.
69.
Savage, R. L. (1985b). When a policy's time has come: Cases of rapid policy diffusion, 1983-1984. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 15, 111-125.
70.
Seagrave, J. (1996). Defining community policing. American Journal of Police, 15, 1-22.
71.
Sharp, A. G. (1999). Special report: A report card on COPS. Law and Order, 43, 76-80.
72.
Sherman, L. W. (1975). Middle management and democratization. Criminology, 12, 363-377.
73.
Sherman, L. W. (1997). Preventing crime: What works, what doesn't, what's promising. Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs.
74.
Skolnick, J. H., & Bayley, D. H. (1986). The new blue line: Innovation in six American cities. New York: Free Press.
75.
Sparrow, M. K. (1988). Implementing community policing (Monograph). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
76.
Strecher, V. (1991). Revising the histories and futures of policing. Police Forum, 1, 1-9.
77.
Taft, P. B. (1986). Fighting fear: The Baltimore County C.O.P.E. project. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
78.
Thurman, Q., & Reisig, M. D. (1996). Community-oriented research in an era of community-oriented policing. American Behavioral Scientist, 39, 570-587.
79.
Thurman, Q. C., & McGarrell, E. F. (1997). Community policing in a rural setting. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
80.
Tien, J. M., & Rich, T. F. (1994). The Hartford compass program. In D. P. Rosenbaum (Ed.), The challenge of community policing: Testing the promises (pp. 192-206). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
81.
Trojanowicz, R. (1983). The neighborhood foot patrol program in Flint, Michigan. East Lansing, MI: National Neighborhood Foot Patrol Center for Community Policing.
82.
Trojanowicz, R. (1986). Evaluating a neighborhood foot patrol program: The Flint, Michigan project. In D. P. Rosenbaum (Ed.), Community crime prevention: Does it work? (pp. 157-178). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
83.
Trojanowicz, R. C., & Bucqueroux, B. (1990). Community policing: A contemporary perspective. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
84.
Turner, R., & Wiatrowski, M. D. (1995). Community policing and community innovation: The “new institutionalism” in American government. In P. C. Kratcoski & D. Dukes (Eds.), Issues in community policing (pp. 261-270). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
85.
Walker, J. L. (1969). The diffusion of innovations among the American states. American Political Science Review, 63, 880-889.
86.
Walker, S. (1985). The police in America: An introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
87.
Washington State Institute for Community Oriented Policing [Online]. (1999). Available: http://www.idi.wsu.edu/wsicop/default.htm
88.
Watson, N. A. (1966). Police-community relations. Washington, DC: International Association of Chiefs of Police.
89.
Weber, D. C. (1999). Warrior cops: The ominous growth of paramilitarism in American police departments. CATO Institute: Briefing Papers, 50, 1-14.
90.
Weisheit, R. A., Falcone, D. N., & Wells, L. E. (1996). Crime and policing in rural and small-town America. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
91.
Williams, H., & Murphy, P. V. (1990). The evolving strategy of policing: A minority view (Monograph). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
92.
Williams, H., & Pate, A. M. (1987). Returning to first principles: Reducing the fear of crime in Newark. Crime and Delinquency, 33, 53-70.
93.
Wilson, J. Q., & Kelling, G. L. (1982, March). Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety. Atlantic Monthly, 249, 29-38.
94.
Yin, R. (1979). Changing in urban bureaucracies: How new practices become routinized. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
95.
Zhao, J. (1996). Why police organizations change: A study of community-oriented policing. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
96.
Zhao, J., & Thurman, Q. C. (1997). Community policing: Where are we now?Crime and Delinquency, 43, 345-357.
