Community policing
Community in Action
Community policing, also called community-oriented policing, is a policing philosophy based on community partnership, organizational transformation, and problem-solving techniques. This approach requires partnerships between local law enforcement and community members to proactively address immediate public safety issues. Law enforcement uses a team approach and officers have long-term assignments to specific geographic areas1. Community policing includes various programs and practices such as neighborhood newsletters, bike and foot patrols, educational programs in schools, and neighborhood watches set up with police assistance; strategies depend on the needs of each law enforcement agency and community2, 3.
What could this strategy improve?
Expected Benefits
Our evidence rating is based on the likelihood of achieving these outcomes:
Increased satisfaction with law enforcement
Increased perception of police legitimacy
Potential Benefits
Our evidence rating is not based on these outcomes, but these benefits may also be possible:
Improved neighborhood safety
Reduced crime
Increased problem solving skills
What does the research say about effectiveness?
There is strong evidence that community policing increases residents’ satisfaction with police3, 4, 5, 6 as well as their trust in the police and willingness to cooperate with the police (i.e., police legitimacy)3, 5, 6.
An evaluation of door-to-door community policing visits shows that positive non-enforcement interactions with police officers can improve residents’ perceptions of police6. Community policing may reduce residents’ fear of crime and increase their feelings of safety3. Community policing may increase police officers’ job satisfaction5. A study of a Chicago-based community policing program suggests that participating police officers have more favorable perspectives on relationships with residents and participating residents have improved confidence in their ability to solve local problems when community policing meetings use and discuss feedback on policing practices7.
Effects of community policing on crime are mixed5. Some studies suggest that community policing reduces crime rates, but other studies do not find such reductions; the effects may vary by policing activities, crime type, and the size of agency3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10. The impact of community policing programs on youth crime in a community setting is unclear11. Community policing may have both positive and negative effects on crime, especially arrests, because community police officers may identify more crime and make more arrests through increased cooperation with residents; on the other hand, community police officers may make fewer arrests with their increased discretion and also prevent crime through proactive practices in partnership with residents8, 12.
Researchers suggest that transparent decision-making processes, resources that support problem solving, trust between police and residents, bias recognition, and both structural (e.g., decentralized authority) and philosophical (e.g., culture, attitude) organizational change in law enforcement may be important elements for successful community policing7, 13, 14, 15. Identifying residents’ police service needs before implementation is crucial to successful implementation for racially minorized communities16. An evaluation of foot patrol indicates community police officers with more experience are more likely to identify community problems, suggesting police officers’ level of experience can affect the impact of community policing17.
How could this strategy advance health equity? This strategy is rated potential to decrease disparities: supported by some evidence.
There is some evidence that community policing has the potential to decrease disparities in residents’ perceptions of police legitimacy between racial and ethnic groups6. Available evidence shows that community policing practices improve perceptions of police more for Black residents than white residents6. While community policing practices may improve the perceptions that Black people hold of police officers, institutional racism and racial prejudice of police officers leads to racially selective policing practices, with Black men being most likely to experience police stops24. Black Americans are more likely to be shot, killed, and fatally injured by police compared to white Americans25, 26.
Effects of community policing appear to vary between urban and rural areas: Community policing is associated with more youth services in metro areas while community policing is associated with reduced crime rates in rural areas27. Some studies suggest that officers’ perceptions of community policing may limit implementation in underserved communities: Police officers are more likely to support community policing in white communities28 and officers appear to spend less time interacting with residents from lower social class backgrounds29.
What is the relevant historical background?
Institutional racism in law enforcement and police officer racial prejudice has led to differential treatment of racially and ethnically minoritized populations by police in the U.S.24. Police in the U.S. originated with slave patrols in the 1700s that used excessive force in attempt to control people who were enslaved30, 31. Law enforcement has a long history of both enforcing discriminatory policies, such as Jim Crow laws, as well as disproportionately targeting Black communities32, 33, 34.
Discriminatory policing and police violence have produced justified distrust for the police among racially minoritized individuals and communities24, 35. Community policing emerged in the 1960s in response to disconnected relations between the police and communities, especially minoritized communities5. The first community policing project was in San Diego, California during the 1970s. Foot patrol experiments in Newark, New Jersey and Flint, Michigan drew attention to the importance of positive relationships between the police and community members and the positive effects of improvements in policing practices36. As community policing became more popular, it influenced traditional police assumptions and operations36.
Equity Considerations
- If your community implements community policing, how do residents’ perspectives influence the policing agenda and practices? How can community policing work to improve effective, positive police-community relations?
- What training or practices are needed to foster trust between police and residents?
- What resources and supports are needed to implement fair and just policing, especially for racially and ethnically minoritized communities?
Implementation Examples
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) in the U.S. Department of Justice supports community policing practices through its Community Policing Development program18. COPS also provides resources and training to expand community policing in tribal communities19. Examples of local municipalities that run community policing programs are Surf City, North Carolina20; Atlanta, Georgia21; Austin, Texas22; and Montgomery, Alabama23.
Implementation Resources
‡ Resources with a focus on equity.
ICMA-Community policing guide - International City/County Management Association (ICMA). (2007). Community policing explained: A guide for local government. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
COPS-Tribal practice‡ - International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2016). Promising practices in tribal community policing. Washington, D.C.: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
COPS-Tribal CP‡ - Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Tribal community policing resources. U.S. Department of Justice.
RAND-Community police dialogue - Dionne, B-P., Peterson, S., Mendoza-Graf, A., Holmes, P., Sobol, D., Malika, N., & Cahill, M.E. (2023). A toolkit for community-police dialogue. RAND Corporation.
Footnotes
* Journal subscription may be required for access.
1 US DOJ-COPS 2014 - Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). (2014). Community policing defined. U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ).
2 US DOJ-COPS 2016 - Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). (2016). The state of policing in the United States, Volume 1. U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ).
3 Gill 2014 - Gill, C., Weisburd, D., Telep, C. W., Vitter, Z., & Bennett, T. (2014). Community-oriented policing to reduce crime, disorder and fear and increase satisfaction and legitimacy among citizens: A systematic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 10(4), 399-428.
4 Campbell-Mazerolle 2013 - Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J., Sargeant, E., & Manning, M. (2013). Legitimacy in policing. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 9.
5 Crowl 2017 - Crowl, J. N. (2017). The effect of community policing on fear and crime reduction, police legitimacy and job satisfaction: An empirical review of the evidence. Police Practice and Research, 18(5), 449-462.
6 Peyton 2019 - Peyton, K., Sierra-Arévalo, M., & Rand, D. G. (2019). A field experiment on community policing and police legitimacy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(40), 19894–19898.
7 Graziano 2014 - Graziano, L. M., Rosenbaum, D. P., & Schuck, A. M. (2014). Building group capacity for problem solving and police-community partnerships through survey feedback and training: A randomized control trial within Chicago’s community policing program. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 10(1), 79-103.
8 Ekici 2022 - Ekici, N., Akdogan, H., Kelly, R., & Gultekin, S. (2022). A meta-analysis of the impact of community policing on crime reduction. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 7(3), 111–121.
9 Muchow 2023 - Muchow, A. N. (2023). Community-oriented policing and violent crime: Evidence from the Los Angeles community safety partnership. Police Quarterly, 26(4), 545–572.
10 Sozer 2013 - Sozer, M. A. & Merlo, A. V. (2013). The impact of community policing on crime rates: does the effect of community policing differ in large and small law enforcement agencies? Police Practice and Research, 14(6), 506-521.
11 OJJDP-COP 2023 - Development Services Group, Inc. (2023). Community-oriented policing and problem-oriented policing. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
12 Tillyer 2018 - Tillyer R. (2018). Assessing the impact of community-oriented policing on arrest. Justice Quarterly, 35(3), 526–555.
13 Yilmaz 2013 - Yilmaz, S. (2013). Tailoring model in reforming police organizations towards community policing. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 26(5), 897–924.
14 Glaser 2010 - Glaser, M.A., & Denhardt, J. (2010). Community policing and community building: A case study of officer perceptions. The American Review of Public Administration, 40(3), 309-325.
15 Schlosser 2021 - Schlosser, M. D., Robbennolt, J. K., Blumberg, D. M., & Papazoglou, K. (2021). Confirmation bias: A barrier to community policing. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 6(4), 162–167.
16 Doane 2018 - Doane, E., & Cumberland, D.M. (2018). Community policing: Using needs assessment to gain understanding before implementing. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 31(2), 165–187.
17 Kringen 2020 - Kringen, J. A., Sedelmaier, C. M., & Dlugolenski, E. (2020). Foot patrol: The impact of continuity, outreach, and traditional policing activities. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(1), 218–227.
18 COPS-CPD - Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The Community Policing Development (CPD) program. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
19 COPS-Tribal CP - Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Tribal community policing resources. U.S. Department of Justice.
20 COP-Surf City - Town of Surf City, North Carolina. Community policing programs. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
21 COP-Atlanta - City of Atlanta Police Department. Community policing programs. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
22 COP-Austin - City of Austin, Office of the City Auditor. (2020). Impact of community policing efforts.
23 COP-Montgomery - City of Montgomery, Alabama. Community policing. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
24 Carvalho 2022 - Carvalho, A. A. S., Mizael, T. M., & Sampaio, A. A. S. (2021). Racial prejudice and police stops: A systematic review of the empirical literature. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 15(4), 1213–1220.
25 Ward 2024 - Ward, J. A., Cepeda, J., Jackson, D. B., Johnson, O., Jr, Webster, D. W., & Crifasi, C. K. (2024). National burden of injury and deaths from shootings by police in the United States, 2015‒2020. American Journal of Public Health, 114(4), 387–397.
26 Giffords-Nguyen 2024 - Nguyen, A., Drane, K. (2024). Gun violence in Black communities. Giffords Law Center.
27 Rukus 2018 - Rukus, J., Warner, M. E., & Zhang, X. (2018). Community policing: Least effective where need is greatest. Crime & Delinquency, 64(14), 1858–1881.
28 Kearns 2017 - Kearns, E. M. (2017). Why are some officers more supportive of community policing with minorities than others? Justice Quarterly, 34(7), 1213–1245.
29 Dai 2021 - Dai, M., & Hu, X. (2021). Exploring the duration of police–citizen encounters. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 15(2), 1129–1143.
30 Ward 2022 - Ward, M. (2022). The legacy of slavery and contemporary racial disparities in arrest rates. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 8(4), 534–552.
31 NAACP-Police origins - NAACP. The origins of modern day policing. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
32 History-Jim Crow laws - History.com. (2024, January 22). Jim Crow laws.
33 Mesic 2018 - Mesic, A., Franklin, L., Cansever, A., Potter, F., Sharma, A., Knopov, A., & Siegel, M. (2018). The relationship between structural racism and Black-white disparities in fatal police shootings at the state level. Journal of the National Medical Association, 110(2), 106–116.
34 Siegel 2020a - Siegel, M. (2020). Racial disparities in fatal police shootings: An empirical analysis informed by critical race theory. Boston University Law Review, 100, 1069–1092.
35 NBER-Ang 2024 - Ang, D., Bencsik, P., Bruhn, J. M., & Derenoncourt, E. (2024). Community engagement with law enforcement after high-profile acts of police violence [Working Paper 32243]. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
36 BJA-COP 1994 - Community Policing Consortium. (1994). Understanding community policing: A framework for action. Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
Related What Works for Health Strategies
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