This evaluation was prepared for the Criminal Justice Section, Bureau of Community Assistance, Division of Housing and Community Development, Department of Community Affairs, State of Florida in cooperation with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. The conclusions and opinions expressed in this report are those of the Florida State University, Institute for Health and Human Services Research, and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, or the State of Florida, Department of Community Affairs, Division of Housing and Community Development, Bureau of Community Assistance, Criminal Justice Section or any other agency of the state or federal government. Although there is no formal definition of what is meant by the term, the philosophy of community policing indicates a change in the direction of policing in our society. For some, it represents a fundamental shift from incident driven and reactive policing to problem oriented or proactive policing. Geographic decentralization, decentralization of decision-making to the lowest level of the organization, and many other elements have been incorporated into some programs, including efforts to make environmental changes, and to increase cooperation with neighborhood organizations and other social service agencies.
Many community policing efforts attempt to involve citizens in solving neighborhood problems.
Community policing seeks to increase the degree of responsibility citizen s feel for their neighborhood's quality of life as well as increasing cooperation between the citizens and police. Involvement ranges from participation in neighborhood crime watches and patrols to calling police hot lines. The model calls upon the police to actively solicit and listen to input from the citizens. One problem with this approach is in determining community norms and desires. Community policing allows officers to work on neighborhood-specific problems for extended time periods.