Community Policing - Working Together to Prevent Crime

Payne J¹*, Homel P¹*

1. Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Since the mid 1980s, the concept of ‘crime reduction through community partnership’ has continued to grow in popularity. At a time when traditional policing activities failed to deliver tangible reductions in local crime rates, this significant shift in the traditional policing paradigm led to the increased use of one important policing strategy: community policing.

However, “community policing” is a very broad term often used to describe many aspects of the process by which the police engage with the community in the prevention of crime. At its core, is the recognition that by working with the community, law enforcement agencies can find local solutions to local problems. Engaging the community in crime reduction and prevention allows a more targeted approach to local priorities by empowering the community to identify and respond to local concerns. The benefits can be widespread, from improved police-citizen relations to decreases in the fear of crime.

This paper examines community policing in practice, with a particular focus on both national and international research into its effectiveness. In doing so, this paper will discuss the benefits and pitfalls of current community policing initiatives, outlining possible future directions for communities and crime prevention.

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