Layout 1 11/24/04 2:38 PM Page 1 Edited by Lorie Fridell and Mary Ann Wycoff 1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 930, Washington DC, 20036 Phone: 202-466-7820 Fax: 202-466-7826 www.policeforum.org frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page i Community Policing frontmatter 11/10/04 9:22 AM Page ii This project, conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), was supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Points of view or opinions contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of PERF or The Annie E. Casey Foundation. © Police Executive Research Forum, The Annie E. Casey Foundation Police Executive Research Forum Washington, DC 20036 United States of America November 2004 ISBN: 1-878734-82-2 Library of Congress: 2004116837 Cover design by Nelson Design Group Interior layout by Cynthia Stock frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page iii Community Policing The Past, Present, and Future Edited by Lorie Fridell and Mary Ann Wycoff annie e. casey foundation and police executive research forum Washington, D.C. frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page iv frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page v Contents Foreword ix part i. the community policing model 1 The Defining Characteristics of Community Policing 3 Lorie Fridell 2 The Best Community Policing Practice May Be Invisible 13 Mary Ann Wycoff 3 Community Policing is Good Policing, Both Today 25 and Tomorrow Edward A. Flynn part ii. the implementation of community policing 4 The Results of Three National Surveys on Community Policing 39 Lorie Fridell 5 The Survey Data: What They Say and Don’t Say about Community Policing 59 Gary Cordner v frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page vi vi part iii. the future of community policing 6 Community Policing in the Years Ahead: And Now for the Really Hard Part 73 Bonnie Bucqueroux 7 The Promise of Community Development Corporations 83 Paul Grogan and Lisa Belsky 8 Community Policing and Web-Based Communication: Addressing the New Information Imperative 93 Dennis P. Rosenbaum 9 Taking Community Policing to the Next Level: Adopting Technology Lessons Learned from the Corporate Sector 115 Barbara McDonald and Ron Huberman 10 Reflections from the Field on Needed Changes 127 in Community Policing Nancy McPherson 11 The Merits of Community Policing in the Twenty-First Century: The View from the Street 141 Jerry Flynn 12 Community Policing During a Budget Crisis: The Need 151 for Interdisciplinary Cooperation, Not Competition Ellen T. Hanson 13 Community Policing: Common Impediments to Success 159 Wesley G. Skogan 14 What Future(s) Do We Want for Community Policing? 169 Richard Myers 15 The Impact of September 11 on Community Policing 183 Ellen Scrivner frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page vii vii 16 The Challenges to the Future of Community Policing 193 Darrel Stephens part iv. institutionalization of community policing 17 Making Sure Community Policing Is Here to Stay 209 Mary Ann Wycoff About the Contributors 223 About The Annie E. Casey Foundation 233 About PERF 235 Acknowledgements 237 frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page viii frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page ix Foreword t is quite appropriate that The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Police IExecutive Research Forum (PERF) have come together to produce this book on the past, present, and future of community policing. The mission of The Annie E. Casey Foundation is to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth and their families—particularly those in distressed areas. PERF’s mission is to improve policing services to all individuals. These missions intersect at community policing, which brings police and communities together to solve neighborhood problems and improve the quality of life there. While there are many factors and entities at work that determine the welfare of America’s children and families, certainly community policing is a significant one. With this mutual concern for communities plagued by violence, disorder, and fear, we have joined forces to produce this book to demonstrate the importance of community policing and reflect on its development, current status, and prospects for the future. There has been tremendous speculation about the future of community policing. Can it flourish in agencies that are still in the early stages of implementation? In agencies that have demonstrated their commitment to community policing, can it be sustained and even advanced beyond cur- rent models when there are so many challenges facing innovative policing professionals? This book addresses these important questions. The authors provide valuable information on the implementation of community polic- ing as well as informed opinions about what community policing may one day become. These national experts and leaders in policing speak out on ix frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page x x critical issues and evaluate a decade of survey data. Their sometimes-dis- parate views reveal the many obstacles that must be overcome for commu- nity policing to meet its full potential. Among those obstacles are the demands created by ongoing terrorist threats and the organizational and cultural barriers to successful imple- mentation of community policing principles. Several chapters evaluate the impact of September 11, 2001, on law enforcement. Some observers are concerned that the nation’s focus on antiterrorist activities will be the death knell for community policing. This book assesses how new demands on police related to homeland security will affect community policing; and it underscores the very real contribution that community policing has made and will make to advance U.S. security interests. Among the many other factors the authors discuss are officer training, organizational changes in police agencies, new performance measures, management-union issues, and police-citizen partnerships. Part I describes the community policing model. While attempts during the past decade to develop a single definition of community policing have been controversial, consensus has emerged on three elements common to any community policing effort. These elements form the main themes of Chapter 1 written by Lorie Fridell. Mary Ann Wycoff then highlights best practices in community policing (Chapter 2), warning that the visible accomplishments of community engagement and problem solving will not be sustained without organizational transformation. In Chapter 3, Edward Flynn argues that community policing is fundamentally just “good polic- ing” and he reminds us—through reflections on his own experiences in law enforcement from line officer to leader—of the great transformation from traditional to community policing. Part II examines how community policing principles are reflected in policing practices and assesses whether community policing is “rhetoric or reality.” To conduct this assessment, PERF staff drew upon information obtained through national surveys of law enforcement agencies in 1992, 1997, and 2002. The data were used to report not only the extent to which agencies identify as community policing agencies, but also the specific man- ifestations of that orientation in terms of activities, training, and reorgani- zation. Because the three surveys were similar in content and implemented at three different times over a period of ten years, the reader can chronicle changes in community policing implementation in the United States for that decade. In the 2002 survey, law enforcement agencies added informa- tion about the impact of the terrorist threat on community policing, as well frontmatter 12/6/04 3:28 PM Page xi xi as how community policing practices help police address that threat. Lorie Fridell, in Chapter 4, discusses the results from the three surveys. In Chap- ter 5, Gary Cordner outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the survey data and highlights the aspects of community policing that have been most successfully implemented, as well as those features that agency executives need to give more emphasis in the years to come. In Part III, law enforcement practitioners and academic experts— reflecting upon the research results and their own experiences—discuss where law enforcement has been with community policing and where it may be going. These commentators provide practical direction for law enforcement professionals, particularly agency executives, on how the promise of community policing can be fulfilled in the challenging years ahead. Bonnie Bucqueroux (Chapter 6) draws on the survey data to demonstrate how departments have been deficient in their partnership work and she provides guidance on how to fully realize this critical element of community policing. Paul Grogan and Lisa Belsky (Chapter 7) describe the results of successful community development corporations-police partnerships across the nation, citing activities that reduce disorder, strengthen neighborhood social controls, increase the political power of residents, and promote economic development. Dennis Rosenbaum (Chap- ter 8) also addresses the importance of the relationship between police and the community—highlighting how new technologies can be harnessed to move community policing into the future. Barbara McDonald and Ron Huberman (Chapter 9) then describe one such technology: a very compre- hensive information system the Chicago Police Department uses to advance citizen interactions with police, facilitate problem solving and crime investigation, and promote effective performance measurement— particularly measures of community satisfaction. Nancy McPherson (Chapter 10) emphasizes the importance of structures and processes internal to police agencies that support community policing as they move into the future. She highlights the importance of leadership at the line level; the need for research, education and technology to support problem solving; internal organizational mechanisms that reinforce com- munity policing; ethical competence among personnel; and management- union collaboration. Jerry Flynn draws on his experience as a police officer and union leader to demonstrate how community policing can be advanced through the efforts of dedicated, creative street officers. Ellen Hanson (Chapter 12) raises the critical issue of resources for continued support of community policing.