Police have rediscovered that basic levels of order must be maintained in cities. Disorder creates fear and invites serious crime. Police solve specific problems, whether a troublesome tavern or a rash of car thefts. Police persuade people to behave. At times, the persuasion may include the threat of or else, for police do represent the moral authority of the community and can mobilize it.
Police enforce the law and arrest people.
Police and order maintenance professionals working inside a neighborhood, equipped with adequate information and community support, can target the five percent who are not prepared to obey the law. They can do that even before laws are broken. To realize optimal benefits of the Fixing Broken Windows strategy, it is recommended the Lancaster Bureau of Police reorganize from a traditional reactive policing model, with emphasis on patrol, to a fully integrated Community Policing model. The Commission proposes creating a Management Task Force to evaluate and assess the present Bureau of Police structure and to develop organizational improvements focusing all relevant policing efforts on Community Policing. A multidisciplinary Task Force with a police organizational management consultant as coordinator could include members of the Bureau of Police, neighborhood groups, corporate executives and government leaders.