Police and Communities: the Quiet Revolution
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U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice ': June 1988 No. 1 A publication of the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, and the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Police and Communities: 9y r L the Quiet Revolution - + By George L. Kelling a tT+Aw*y Introduction This is one in a series of reports originally developed with A quiet revolution is reshaping American policing. some of the leading figures in American policing during their periodic meetings at Harvard University's John F. Police in dozens of communities are returning to foot Kennedy School of Government. The reports are published patrol. In many communities, police are surveying citi- so that Americans interested in the improvement and the zens to learn what they believe to be their most serious future of policing can share in the information and perspec- neighborhood problems. Many police departments are tives that were part of extensive debates at the School's finding alternatives to rapidly responding to the majority Executive Session on Policing. of calls for service. Many departments are targeting re- The police chiefs, mayors, scholars, and others invited to sources on citizen fear of crime by concentrating on dis- the meetings have focused on the use and promise of such order. organizing citizens' groups has become a priority strategies as community-based and problem-oriented polic- in many departments. Increasingly, police departments ing. The testing and adoption of these strategies by some are looking for means to evaluate themselves on their police agencies signal important changes in the way Amer- contribution to the quality of neighborhood life, notjust ican policing now does business. What these changes mean crime statistics. Are such activities the business of polic- for the welfare of citizens and the fulfillment of the police mission in the next decades has been at the heart of the ing? In a crescendo, police are answering yes. Kennedy School meetings and this series of papers. True, such activities contrast with popular images of We hope that through these publications police officials police: the "thin blue line" separating plundering villains and other policymakers who affect the course of policing from peaceful residents and storekeepers, and racing will debate and challenge their beliefs just as those of us through city streets in high-powered cars with sirens wail- in the Executive Session have done. ing and lights flashing. Yet, in city after city, a new The Executive Session on Policing has been developed vision of policing is taking hold of the imagination of and administered by the Kennedy School's Program in progressive police and gratified citizens. Note the 1987 Criminal Justice Policy and Management and funded by report of the Philadelphia Task Force. Dismissing the the National Institute of Justice and private sources that in- notion of police as Philadelphia's professional defense clude the Charles StewartMott and Guggenheim Foundations. against crime, and its residents as passive recipients of police ministrations, the report affirms new police values: James K. Stewart Director . Because the current strategy for policing Philadelphia National Institute of Justice emphasizes crime control and neglects the Depart- U.S. Department of Justice ment's need to be accountable to the public and for a Mark H. Moore partnership with it, the task force recommends: The Faculty Chairman police commissioner should formulate an explicit mis- Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management sion statement for the Department that will guide plan- John F. Kennedy School of Government ning and operations toward a strategy of "community" Harvard University A or "problemsolving" policing. Such a statement should the overall strategy of police departments. What are some be developed in consultation with the citizens of of these strategic changes? Philadelphia and should reflect their views.(Emphases added.) I These themes-problem solving, community policing, 66 Citizens conceded to police that crime was . consultation, partnership, accountability-have swept a problem, but were more concerned about .- through American policing so swiftly that Harvard Uni- ' versity's Professor Mark H. Moore has noted that "We daily incivilities that disrupted and often de- in academe have to scramble to keep track of develop- stro~edneighborhood and ments in policing." Professor Herman Goldstein of the political life 99 university of Wisconsin sees police as "having turned a corner" by emphasizing community accountability and problem solving. Defense of a community Police are a neighborhood's primary defense against dis- I The new model of policing order and crime, right? This orthodoxy has been the basis What corner has been turned? What are these changes of police strategy for a generation. What is the police that are advancing through policing? job? Fighting crime. How do they do this? Patrolling in cars, responding to calls for service, and investigating Broken windows crimes. What is the role of citizens in all of this? Support- ing police by calling them if trouble occurs and by being In February 1982, James Q. Wilson and I published an good witnesses. article in Atlantic known popularly as "Broken Win- dows." We made three points. But using our metaphor, let us again ask the question of whether police are the primary defense against crime and 1. Neighborhood disorder-drunks, panhandling, youth disorder. Are police the "thin blue line" defending neigh- gangs, prostitution, and other urban incivilities-creates borhoods and communities? Considering a specific exam- citizen fear. ple might help us answer this question. For example, should police have primary responsibility for controlling 2. Just as &repaired broken windows can signal to a neighborhood youth who, say, is bullying other people that nobody cares about a building and lead to children? more serious vandalism, untended disorderly behavior can also signal that nobody cares about the community Of course not. The first line of defense in a neighborhood and lead to more serious disorder and crime. Such sig- against a troublesome youth is the youth's family. Even nals-untended property, disorderly persons, drunks, if the family is failing, our immediate answer would not obstreperous youth, etc.-both create fear in citizens and be to involve police. Extended family-aunts, uncles, attract predators. grandparents-might become involved. Neighbors and 3. If police are to deal with disorder to reduce fear and friends (of both the parents and youth) often offer assist- crime, they must rely on citizens for legitimacy and awe. The youth's church or school might become assistance. involved. "Broken Windows" gave voice to sentiments felt both by On occasion police will be called: Suppose that the youth citizens and police. It recognized a major change in the is severely bullying other children to the point of injuring focus of police. Police had believed that they should deal them. A bullied child's parents call the police. Is the with serious crime, yet were frustrated by lack of success. bully's family then relieved of responsibility? Are neigh- Citizens conceded to police that crime was a problem, bors? The school? Once police are called, are neighbors but were more concerned about daily incivilities that relieved of their duty to be vigilant and protect their own disrupted and often destroyed neighborhood social, com- or other neighbors' children? Does calling police relieve mercial, and political life. "We were trying to get people teachers of their obligation to be alert and protect children to be concerned about crime problems," says Darrel from assault? The answer to all these questions is no. Stephens, former Chief in Newport News and now Execu- We expect families, neighbors, teachers, and others to tive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum, be responsible and prudent. "never understanding that daily living issues had a much greater impact on citizens and commanded their time and If we believe that community institutions are the first line attention." of defense against disorder and crime, and the source of . strength for maintaining the quality of life, what should . - - Many police officials, however, believed the broken win- the strategy of police be? The old view was that they dows metaphor went further. For them, it not only were a community's professional defense against crime suggested changes in the focus of police work (disorder, and disorder: Citizens should leave control of crime and for example), it also suggested major modifications in maintenance of order to police. The new strategy is that police are to stimulate and buttress a community's ability to produce attractive neighborhoods and protect them against predators. Moreover, in communities that are 100 calls to the police department during the past year. wary of strangers, police serve to help citizens tolerate In fact, they have known intuitively what researchers and protect outsiders who come into their neighborhoods Glenn Pierce in Boston and Lawrence Sherman in Min- for social or commercial purposes. neapolis have confirmed through research: fewer than 10 percent of the addresses calling for police service generate But what about neighborhoods in which things have got- over 60 percent of the total calls for service during a .' ten out of hand-where, for example, predators like drug given year. dealers take over and openly and outrageously deal drugs and threaten citizens? Clearly, police must play a leading Indeed, it is very likely that the domestic dispute described role defending such communities. Should they do so on above is nothing new for the disputing couple, the neigh- ' * their own, however? bors, or police. More likely than not, citizens have pre- viously called police and they have responded. And, with Police have tried in the past to control neighborhoods each call to police, it becomes more likely that there will plagued by predators without involving residents.