Community Policing

Community policing involves attention to

crime-related issues that disrupt the peace
and well-being of local people, including
issues of fear and disorder.

When attending to these issues, you must

effectively blend reactive and proactive
approaches, as appropriate

Problem solving in the community policing

context differs from traditional policing.

It shifts its focus from traditional solutions

to problems (arrests, increasing number of
cars and officers in problem areas) to
more creative solutions, which have an
impact on preventing crime and disorder,
and eliminating fear.

Problem solving is a pro-active,

preventative process that:
looks at crime and disorder problems,
understands the conditions that give rise
to these problems,
draws from a range of solutions (not just
criminal law and arrest) to address the
root causes of problems, and
assesses and reassesses the effectiveness
of the applied solutions.

What do you think the benefits of this

approach are?

Class exercise page 5-2

Some of the benefits include:

Clearer understanding of causes of
community problems
Better working relationships with
community partners
Better use of community resources
Reduction in demand for police services
Increased public satisfaction with police
services

Less fear of crime

Improvement in quality of life
Better understanding of the communitys
perspective/ viewpoint on delivery of
police service
Developing and maintaining trust within
the community

In order to solve problems of concern to

both police and communities, it is

necessary to think strategically about
addressing these problems.
Strategic thinking involves looking at
problems in long-term creative ways,
moving from a traditional mindset to one
that will offer more effective solutions.
In order to do this, various factors should
be considered. These factors include:

In problem solving, it is necessary to look

for patterns. The focus should be on:
the people,
places, and
activities that are related to certain
crimes and problems.

Do you know of offenders who continually cause

problems in your community?
Do you know of locations that repeatedly require police
How can you get information to assist you in
determining where problem incidents are
concentrated?
If you cannot easily access this information, what other
means can you use to get this data?
How can you get information to assist you in
determining where problem incidents are
concentrated?
If you cannot easily access this information, what other
means can you use to get this data?

Class exercise page 5-3

When searching for solutions to a problem

it is often helpful to identify guardians
that may assist in fixing the problem.
Guardians can be:
people,
institutions,
laws or codes,
fixtures,
traffic signs,
traffic lights, etc.

Guardians can do something about the

problem and stay behind once the police
have gone.
They exercise control over each side of the
crime triangle to make communities safe
and more resistant to crime.

Triangles are often used to understand

and visualize crime and disorder problems;
three elements must be present in order
for a crime to occur.
It can be compared to a fire triangle in
order for a fire to occur, the three
Elements of fuel, heat and oxygen must be
present. This is the same for crime and
disorder. If any one of the triangle
elements is missing, crime and disorder
will not occur.

Example 1

Offender

Victim

Crime and
Disorder

Location

Example 2

Desire

Ability

Crime and
Disorder

Opportunity

You can form synergistic partnerships

With community members, groups,
organizations, NGOs, and government
agencies to solve community problems.
When solving problems concerning
communities, it is important to
include those people in the process who
will benefit from the outcomes.

COP uses a model for problem solving

that offers you a framework for
approaching crime and disorder problems.

The model used is an easy four-step

model (known by many as the SARA
model).

The steps involved in this approach are as

follows:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Scanning: Identifying and

Prioritizing the Problem
Analysis:
Understanding Root
cause of Problem
Response:
Designing and implementing Strategies
Assessment:
Evaluating effectiveness of Solutions

When assessing the solutions, what types

of questions can you ask to determine if
there is increased public satisfaction with
the police response?
How can you determine if there is a
reduced fear of crime?

END