And then we're surprised when studies, like last week's report from the Youth Law Center, show that black and Latino youth are far more likely to be arrested, prosecuted and jailed than whites. In many cities it's community policing. In Boston, community policing has helped reduce crime even more dramatically than in high-profile New York. This approach envisions generalist police officers as collaborative, community-based problem solvers. It stations officers on a neighborhood beat so they can distinguish the gangbangers from the wannabes.
Arrest is only one tool.
Taxpayers have good reason to demand a say in the kind of policing they will support. In contrast, Leroy O Shield, founding member of the American Association for the Advancement of Community-Oriented Policing, saved millions of dollars during his tenure as chief of the Chicago Housing Authority Police Department. In Boston, too, police brutality complaints and claims have dropped dramatically, thanks to the new approach. Yes, police must always maintain the ability to respond quickly to crises and to deploy a specially trained tactical unit to handle those rare instances when force and the show of force are the only safe solutions for citizens and police alike. But the pervasive problems of crime and violence also require officers who understand the context in which they occur and who have the department s support for exploring creative, collaborative solutions.