Community Policing Beyond the Big Cities

• NCJ Number: 205946
• Author(s): Marcia R. Chaiken
• Date Published: November 2004
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 95-IJ-CX-0047
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This report is a summary of a study examining innovative police problem-solving initiatives in small to medium-sized cities and rural counties.

Abstract

This report is a summary of a 2001 study funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice which examined community policing in small cities and rural counties, focusing on innovative problem-solving initiatives and how these can progress to more advanced stages of community policing. Noted insights which emerged from the study included: (1) community policing was most successful when front-line officers tried innovative approaches directed at specific local problems in tandem with residents and members of the community; (2) law enforcement administrators must be fully committed to community policing and push its implementation; and (3) those departments attaining higher stages of community policing were supported by local elected officials. Initial strategies adopted included providing storefronts within problem neighborhoods and increasing officers’ face-to-face contacts with business owners and residents. However, more innovative strategies included the forming of problem-solving liaisons with residents, community groups, schools, and youth organizations. The strategies adopted by the cities and other communities in the study were similar to those in large cities since problems faced by officers in large and small cities were similar. References