Community Policing for Mayors: A Municipal Service Model for Policing and Beyond



CCommunity Policing for Mayors: 

A Municipal Service Model for Policing and Beyond

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U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

As the Mayor, You Can Propel the Move Toward a More Effective Model of 

Government Service that Produces Results!

By: 

Robert Chapman and Matthew Scheider
Community Policing for Mayors: A Municipal Service Model for Policing and Beyond



What Is Community Policing...

Community policing focuses on crime and social disorder 

through the delivery of police services that includes aspects 

of traditional law enforcement, as well as prevention, 

problem-solving, community engagement, and partnerships. 

The community policing model balances reactive responses 

to calls for service with proactive problem-solving centered 

on the causes of crime and disorder. Community policing 

requires police and citizens to join together as partners in 

the course of both identifying and effectively addressing 

these issues. 

...and What Should It “Look” Like?

Many local leaders and community members ask if their 

agency is a community policing agency. A common 

lament—and in reality a widespread misperception—is that 

community policing sounds great in concept, but in practice 

is vaguely defined. In fact, the specific operational activities 

that are consistent with and support community policing 

are clear and well known. Although policing is a diverse 

profession that is practiced differently throughout the nation, 

the chances are that your agency already possesses and 

promotes many practices that directly support community 

policing principles. Common strategies include conducting 

citizen surveys or other means of outreach to help identify 

what crime and disorder problems are priorities for citizens. 

Or, where appropriate, using citizens and community 

groups to assist in the actual responses to community 

problems, when they can increase the effectiveness 

of the solution. Many agencies use citizen volunteers, 

geographically deploy police based on sound analysis 

and research, systematically analyze crime problems, and 

identify and apply best practices from other jurisdictions. 

There are hundreds of other examples, but these are just 

a few well-recognized and commonly practiced police 

activities that are at the core of what community policing is 

about. One challenge confronting many communities and 

law enforcement agencies is systematically linking these 

activities to the broader framework provided by community 

policing and implementing the organizational and cultural 

changes necessary to maintain and enhance them.
Community Policing for Mayors: A Municipal Service Model for Policing and Beyond



One of the strengths of community policing is its flexibility 

and the variation of tools within the community policing 

toolbox. It is important, however, that the philosophy not 

only be embraced, but also practiced, throughout an 

organization. Department-wide adoption of community 

policing is substantiated by the integration of the philosophy 

into mission statements, policies and procedures, 

performance evaluations and hiring and promotional 

practices, training programs, and other systems that define 

an organizational culture and activities. The organizational 

systems, for example, recruitment and selection systems 

and performance appraisal processes, should support and 

value a service orientation, and represent the importance of 

well-defined and operational community policing principles. 

Although implementation of the community policing 

philosophy may occur incrementally and within specialized 

units at first, experience tells us that many of the most 

successful approaches lean toward a carefully planned 

department-wide implementation. All personnel can play 

a vital role in creating partnerships and using proactive 

problem solving strategies to address crime and 

disorder issues.

How Does Community Policing 

Integrate with Traditional Policing 

Strategies?

The community policing model balances reactive responses 

to calls for service with proactive problem-solving centered 

on the causes of crime and disorder. Community policing 

requires police and citizens to join together as full partners 

in the course of both identifying and effectively addressing 

these issues. In these respects it is very different from 

traditional models of policing that focus primarily on 

response times and responding to crimes after they occur. 

As seasoned police practitioners will tell you, however, do 

not make the mistake of thinking of community policing as 

“soft” policing. It is simply a model that takes the best and 

most effective traditional strategies and incorporates them 

into thoughtful problem solving and community partnerships 

to most effectively leverage nonpolice assets and develop 

longer term solutions to problems. Rather than community 

policing, many simply refer to it as “smarter” policing. 
Community Policing for Mayors: A Municipal Service Model for Policing and Beyond



Exactly How Does This Relate to 

a Broader Government Service 

Model?

Chances are, if your police agency practices community 

policing, you have seen the potential that these strategies 

possess for addressing community issues of all scales. 

Tremendous assets and expertise exist within other 

municipal agencies in your city; accordingly, the police 

may even routinely and systematically work with other 

municipal agencies—in the same way that they engage 

prominent nonprofit service providers, business leaders, 

and the community at large—to identify and respond to 

citizen concerns. If so, this represents a more seamless 

municipal government service model that can be highly 

effective in addressing community issues and increasing 

citizen satisfaction. It is also what underpins the community 

governance movement. 

While some call this approach community governance, 

others simply refer to it as a more coordinated approach to 

providing city services and solving community problems. 

The police are only one of the many local government 

agencies responsible for responding to community 

problems as varied as traffic, litter, street lighting, or 

problem parks. Under a community governance model, 

based on community policing principles, other government 

agencies are called on and recognized for their abilities 

to respond to and address citywide issues. Community 

based organizations are also brought in to address issues 

of common concern. The support and leadership of 

elected officials, as well as the coordination of the police 

department and other municipal agencies at all levels, are 

vital to the success of these efforts. Organizational and 

cultural changes can take place in all of these agencies 

to promote proactive public service models based on the 

basic principles of partnerships and problem-solving.
Community Policing for Mayors: A Municipal Service Model for Policing and Beyond



...And What Are Some Ways That I 

Can Promote This Model?

Community policing is not just for the police. Elected 

officials have an important role to play, in close coordination 

with their law enforcement executive, to make the 

community policing philosophy and the strategies it 

encourages work best and potentially expand beyond law 

enforcement. Your administration likely has dozens of 

partnerships with members of the business community, 

faith-based organizations, community groups, nonprofit 

groups, victim service providers, health service providers, 

the media, individuals, and other city agencies. You can 

also promote a more coordinated approach to these 

partnerships across your municipal agencies, ensuring 

that they are strategic and structured to identify and deal 

with specific problems that are relevant to all members. It 

is vital to include those government agencies that have a 

stake in the outcome, and can bring resources to bear on 

the development and implementation of jurisdiction-wide 

solutions. 

As the chief executive, you can facilitate and provide 

leadership to your public service executives to join 

into partnerships when their participation is warranted. 

You can encourage and provide funds for the growth 

of interconnected technology and information systems 

across government to facilitate the sharing of information 

to better understand and develop effective solutions to 

problems. You can also provide, or advocate for, necessary 

resources to sustain these partnerships, as well as support 

the implementation of their proposed solutions. Moreover, 

you can use your influence to encourage participation 

from important segments of the community, through direct 

contact with key stakeholders, or media access to promote 

and provide information regarding these partnerships. Your 

leadership is critical to moving toward a public service 

model based on the principles of community policing that 

will ultimately provide for more coordinated services and 

safer and livable communities. 
A Sample of Common Community 

Policing Strategies

For community policing to work best, these (and other) 

individual strategies should be linked by a broad organizational 

commitment to the community policing philosophy.

Community Partnership Organizational Change Problem-Solving

Post crime information on police web sites Assign officers to specific geographic 

locations for extended periods

Conduct community surveys to identify 

problems and evaluate performance

Hold regular meetings with local businesses Build principles into recruitment activities 

and selection decisions

Systematically identify problems at all levels 

(block, beat, neighborhood, and city)

Attend and present at homeowners 

association meetings

Incorporate community policing into 

performance evaluations and reward systems

Use problem analysis/crime analysis to better 

understand problems/issues

Build working relationships with the media Develop technology and data systems that 

make information more accessible to officers 

and the community

Examine and incorporate best practices from 

other agencies

Inform citizens about major police initiatives Train all staff in community policing 

principles

Seek input from members of the community 

to identify and prioritize problems

Use citizen volunteers Increase officer discretion and accountability 

for solving problems at their level

Encourage and enable officers to think about 

problem-solving when responding to calls for 

service

Operate a citizen police academy Encourage officers to propose innovative 

solutions to long-standing problems

Evaluate the effectiveness of crime and 

problem reduction efforts

Develop working partnerships with other 

local government departments

Reduce hierarchical structures Examine the causes for crime hot spots and 

develop appropriate responses based on 

underlying conditions

Get feedback from partners about the nature 

and priority of community problems

Increase agency transparency for activities 

and decision-making

Analyze factors and characteristics of repeat 

victims to support targeted interventions

Brainstorm new solutions with stakeholders Incorporate community policing into field 

officer training

Gather information about repeat offenders to 

make future offending more difficult

Involve community partners and service 

providers in problem-solving processes

Give officers latitude in developing 

innovative responses to problems

Conduct surveys of the physical environment 

of problem locations to make places less 

susceptible to crime

Use foot patrol/bike patrol Develop technology systems that support 

problem analysis and evaluation

Develop formal response plans

Use partners to help implement responses to 

problems

Build community policing into mission/vision/

strategic plans

Systematically document problem solving 

efforts in a database

Community Policing for Mayors: A Municipal Service Model for Policing and Beyond


For More Information:

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20530

To obtain details on COPS programs, call the

COPS Office Response Center at 800.421.6770 or 

visit COPS Online at www.cops.usdoj.gov.

e05060064

Since 1994, the COPS Office has provided over $11.3 billion 

to law enforcement for hiring police officers and procuring 

equipment and technology. COPS also produces publications, 

training, and other resources on various community policing 

topics. For more information, visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.