What does ‘community policing’ mean?

Dr Alistair Henry (University of Edinburgh)

Dr Megan O’Neill (University of Dundee)

Overview

1. What is ‘community policing’ (Anglo-American model)?

2. Does ‘community policing’ work in the 21st century?

3. How well does ‘community policing’ translate to other contexts?

4. Discussion groups5. Feedback

Why community policing

• A response to specific crises for the police• A response to general ‘crises’ in police

effectiveness and legitimacy• A response to the changing nature of

‘community’ and the social order (democracy?)

• A return to ‘traditional’ policing• A response to post-conflict situations

What is ‘community policing’?

“While everyone talks about it, there is little agreement on meaning.” (Skolnick & Bayley, 1988)• Things that don’t cut it (in themselves)

– Providing police services in the community– Visibility in communities– Intelligence-led or problem-orientated approaches– Community meetings

Programmatic elements of community policing

• Decentralisation of responsibility within the police• Partnership with other agencies (and communities

themselves)• Community engagement (listening and acting, not just telling)• Proactive and problem-solving• Whole philosophy gives value to it as ‘real’ police work

Skolnick & Bayley: CP = police/community co-production of security (an on-going process)

Community policing as democratic policing?

• CP arguably congruent with key principles of democratic policing (but not defining of it)– Equity– Delivery of service– Responsiveness– Distribution of power– Information – Redress– ParticipationSee: Jones, Newburn and Smith, 1996

• Is CP possible in non-democratic contexts?

Community policing in the 21st c.• Can CP adapt to new challenges, such as:

– Diversifying communities– Social media– Fiscal restraint (austerity)?

Community policing in the 21st c.Diversifying communities, for example:1. Migration across borders (e.g. foreign nationals settling in a

‘community)2. Multi-cultural communities (e.g. ethnicity, religion, social class)3. Transient populations (e.g. students)4. Community = loose ‘networks’ which we choose to join from time to

time, with varying degrees of commitment. Belong to more than one at any time. (Herbert 2006) Constantly shifting entities – no ‘end point’.

Do these pose problems for the idea of a defined, geographic, ‘community’?

Community policing in the 21st c.Social media:1. Communication across communities2. Communication within a ‘community’, but across geographic borders3. Increased expectations of police communication, responsiveness4. Rapidly changes, unpredictable5. Evidence of police using SM to ‘build’ a sense of community

(O’Connor 2015)→ Is social media an opportunity or a threat to community policing?

Community policing in the 21st c.Fiscal restraint (austerity measures)1. CP is resource-intensive2. Needs long-term investment and commitment of staff3. Benefits are often not immediately apparent4. CP is often the first to go when policing budgets are

reduced – the police become more reactive, enforcement orientated

Do the benefits of CP outweigh the cost of resourcing it? Should it be protected at all times?

How well does ‘community policing’ translate?

• Reasons to be very cautious:– Contested notions of ‘community’– ‘Community’ conflict might well have been at the root of

the problem (fissures run deep)– Low police/state legitimacy (implicated in the conflict)– Historical differences in police-citizen relationship, social

ordering & governance– Cultural resistance, implementation failure, resources,

capacities and skills– External interests can trump local interests

Reasons to be cautiously optimistic• Community conflict and low police legitimacy have not only

been characteristics of FCASs and have been improved through CP elsewhere

• Possibilities of working iteratively – from policing for democracy (getting the basics right for equitable service and security) to democratically responsive policing (a more decisive engagement with community policing)(Aitchison and Blaustein, 2013)

• Possibilities (and dangers?) of mobilising ‘the extended policing family’ and community capacity (Johnston and Shearing, 2003)

Discussion topics

1. Has your experience been one of ‘community policing’ or of ‘policing communities’? Why?

2. Is community policing possible in non-democratic states? Or is it a competing philosophy?

3. From your perspective, how do we do CP within diversifying communities in times of fiscal restraint?

4. Is social media an opportunity or a threat to community policing? Why?

5. Can we ever know what a ‘community’ is?6. How realistic is it to expect members of the public to

participate in their own security? Are they willing partners?

Feedback