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72 3 Polic

Finally, research on the effectiveness of various educational programs is sorely

needed in order to promote advancement of officers' understandings of the mentally

ill. Conceivably, once greater understanding is achieved, better decisions regarding

crisis intervention and the physical handling of patients may lead to the deescalation

of potentially dangerous situations, thus making the police force's ability to deal with

the mentally ill that much more effective.

COMMUNITY POLICING: TRENDY

OR EFFECTIVE?

Introduction

The past several decades have witnessed a dramatic rise in crime rates and a grow-
ing distrust of police officers. This phenomenon is particularly evident in low
socioeconomic communities and among ethnic minorities. According to T. M.
Joseph (1994), from 1961 to 1994 the violent crime rate rose over 500% and total
crimes rose more than 300%. In addition, he reports that while citizens fear be-
coming victims of crime, they have a growing tolerance to criminal activity and its
impact on their communities. In order to combat crime rates and the deteriorat-
ing relationships between police officers and members of the community, many
police departments are implementing community-oriented policing (Thurman
etal., 1993).
Community-oriented policing is an attempt to move the focus of law enforce-
ment from reaction to criminal activity to prevention of crime. While no single
definition of "community-oriented policing" exists, a broad definition is a combi-
nation of strategies designed to prevent crime through the establishment of a strong
community/police relationship. Skogan (1994) identified various strategies that are
utilized with this approach:

opening small neighborhood substations, conducting surveys to identify local prob-

lems, organizing meetings and crime prevention seminars, publishing newsletters, helping

torn) Neighborhood Watch groups, establishing advisory panels to inform police com-

manders, organizing youth activities, conducting drug educations projects and media

campaigns, patrolling on horses and bicycles, and working with municipal agencies to

enforce health and safety regulations, (pp. 167-168)

Despite the advantages associated with the cooperation and collaboration be-

tween citizens and police officers, the implementation of these strategies has pre-

sented many challenges for administrators and officers. The ambiguity in defining

community policing has raised concerns. Issues such as the community's willingness

to participate and officers' attitudes regarding community policing have caused many

to question if this policing strategy is a viable solution to crime prevention or just an-

other ineffective trend in law enforcement. Consider the following case illustration.