Neighborhoods Matter: A Situational Policing Perspective

• NCJ Number: 229232
• Author(s): John Markovic
• Date Published: December 2009
• Length: 3 pages
• Agencies: NIJ

Annotation

This article from the Quarterly Bulletin of Applied Geography for the Study of Crime and Public Safety examines the use of situational policing.

Abstract

This article defines situational policing as an extension of community policing that identifies individual types of neighborhoods, and then considers how police departments can overcome neighborhood differences to strengthen neighborhoods and reduce crime. The article examines the development of situational policing and how it is used by police departments. Researchers developed four neighborhood types which vary along two dimensions, 1) the level of crime/disorder in the neighborhood, and (2) the degree to which a neighborhood depends on the police or has established interdependence. The four neighborhood types, strong neighborhoods, vulnerable neighborhoods, anomic neighborhoods, and responsive neighborhoods, are discussed. The article also examines the three stages of neighborhood development: dependence, conflict, and interdependence. Policy implications on the use of situational policing are discussed. 1 figure and 4 notes