CJ 220
Chapter 2
Policing and Community Justice
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Introduction
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The most obvious way police serve as
exemplars of community justice is through
the community-oriented policing
movement that began in the 1980s and
1990s
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Community justice as a concept owes much of
its momentum to the success of community
policing
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Introduction
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Community policing is both a
comprehensive strategy of policing and a
philosophy of law enforcement
Community justice, on the other hand is a
strategy and a philosophy of criminal
justice
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Introduction

The movement to community policing
represents an attempt to bring police
closer to the public they serve
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Develops relationships to better understand
the needs of the community and better
address local problems
The community policing movement is not
the same as the community justice
movement © 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
A Brief History of Community
Policing
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During the Political Era of policing, the police
were a tool of those in power and oppressive to
those who opposed the status quo
The Reform Era of policing, which began in the
1920s, worked to professionalize the police,
separate them from the political influence, and
create a professional, military-like administration
system
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Police also became more impersonal and, as a result,
became more distant from the public
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
A Brief History of Community
Policing
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Technology increased the rift between officers
and the community
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Automobiles – decreased footbeat
Telephone and Radios – made it easy for the public to
quickly and easily contact the police for assistance
Computers – allowed statistics to be efficiently
gathered which led to inferior, number-driven policing
Instead of listening to citizens’ concerns, officers and
managers became statistics-driven
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
A Brief History of Community
Policing

The 1960s became a time of friction
between the community and police
because of the mishandling of civil rights
and anti-war protests
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police and the Community: A Dual
Track Rationale
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The two aims of community-oriented policing are:
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Better community relations
Better crime prevention
Better community relations is necessary because the
police rely on the public in order to do their job, but
there are several impediments to good community
relations:
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Citizens with the advantaged social class tend to see the police
in a positive light
Those who have significant social disadvantage do not have the
same positive view
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police and the Community
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The challenge is
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How to obtain and maintain positive interaction with citizens
who may be predisposed to be suspicious of the police
Police cultural attitudes which also interfere with the capacity for
a positive relationship
Better crime prevention relies on community-based
practice
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If the policing approach is simply to be more active in response
to crime – more investigations and more arrests – the police will
always be playing catch-up
If a proactive approach is taken, there are more possibilities for
public safety results
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
The Community Policing Relations
Rationale for Community Policing
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Police work faces a series of built-in
problems that tends to frustrate the
capacity of the police to do their jobs well
Some of this is due to the nature of the
problem as well as the police themselves
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
The Police: Essential Services
Ensnared in Quandary
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Although we see police around us routinely, we
encounter them only when our lives are not
routine
The most important services provided by the
police usually take place in the context of
somebody being in trouble or some sort of crisis
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This makes it quite natural to expect the police to
arrive with special powers to intercede
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
The Police: Essential Services
Ensnared in Quandary
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The powers of the police to act are carefully
circumscribed by democratic law and
tradition, so the immediacy of the
predicament is always tempered by the
limitations placed on police authority
This often leads to disappointment, because
the police will often feel constrained in the
actions they can take and citizens will often
fail to grasp those constraints
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
The Police: Essential Services
Ensnared in Quandary
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In police-citizen encounters, the reverse can
also occur
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A police officer may interpret the facts of a
situation as calling for serious or even urgent
action, while the citizen feels intensely that his/her
rights ought to constrain the actions taken by
police
Often makes the police feel they are in a
“damned-if-I-do and damned-if-I-don’t” bind
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
The Police: Essential Services
Ensnared in Quandary

A major defining characteristic for how people
feel about the police can be race and age
People of color have lower opinions of the police
than do whites
 Young people have lower opinions than do older
people, regardless of race
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Even with these problems, police consistently
receive a more positive performance appraisal
than do other sectors of the criminal justice
system
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Symbol of Modern
Culture
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The police represent social control, and they stand for
social order
Many see the police as a symbol of safe and secure
society
Those who hold the symbolic vision of the police as the
agency of social control typically support a strong police
presence and object to “civil liberties” views of the police
that emphasize citizens’ rights
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When police are viewed this way, it is easy to think of society as
composed of “good guys” and “bad guys” – the police come
from the former group and are asked to control the latter group
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Symbol of Modern
Culture
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To those who see the police as symbols of
power, the problem is not public safety but the
way to put meaningful reins on that power
Because the most disadvantaged in our society
are also the most likely to encounter police
power used against them, this concern often
arises along the lines of social class and social
status
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Symbol of Modern
Culture
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The United States is today a residentially
segregated society
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Those who live in the residential areas
occupied by dominant majorities see the
police far more positively than those who live
in poor, minority areas
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Symbol of Modern
Culture
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Thus, part of what determines the way citizens
react to the police is how the police define
citizenry
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When police see citizens as potential problems, those
citizens respond by seeing the police as potentially
unwelcome power in their lives
When police see citizens as “residents,” those
residents will see the police as a support system
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of the Legal
System
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The police are first and foremost the initial stage
of the criminal justice system
Police work has to be assessed on three
different criteria
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How do police actions affect citizen willingness to
report crimes?
How do these actions encourage citizen cooperation
with criminal investigations?
How effective are these strategies in identifying
suspects accurately?
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Symbol of Modern
Culture
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Studies of police-citizen relations find that
citizens who have had negative
experiences with the police often become
reluctant to assist the police in their
investigations or report crimes to the
police in the first place – even when they
are victims
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Symbol of Modern
Culture
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For police, this lack of cooperation has two sides
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It is frustrating, because the police point of view is that they are
only trying to protect the law-abiding citizens from the “bad
guys” and the lack of cooperation makes the work that much
harder
It is easy for police to view all the residents who express
suspicion as somehow being aligned with the “bad element”
After a while, some police can develop an attitude
toward these areas of “since they don’t care, why should
I?”
To protect themselves from an all-too-unfriendly public,
police adopt a first-choice style of indifference
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in a
Society
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Authority is the legitimate capacity to require compliance
imbued in a role by law, standards, or custom
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It is housed in the idea that some consensus of opinion exists
that the person occupying a certain role ought to have a level of
obedience to his or her directives, so long as they flow from
legitimate exercise of duties within that role
So long as the person with authority is acting consistent
with the expectations of the role, we expect voluntary
compliance with the directives that emanate from the
legitimate performance of that role
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in a
Society
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Power, on the other hand, is the raw ability to compel
compliance, regardless of a person’s willingness to
comply
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When a person has power with regard to certain actions, it
means that person can make others do what is wanted through
some implied or actual coercive capacity
Authority is a far more efficient way of getting a person
to do something, since it works without any direct threat
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Power, by contrast, requires implied or demonstrated threat
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in
a Society
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Authority, to work, is reliant on voluntary
cooperation, whereas power can be exerted
regardless of another person’s willingness to
comply
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In a very real sense, authority is given by the person
exercising it to the person who has decided to
comply, while power is taken by the person giving
orders
Authority exists because people voluntarily accept the
dictates of the police
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in
a Society
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Some may say that the more a person turns to power as
the way to compel others’ compliance, the less everyone
would expect that person to have (or eventually obtain)
authority
This is one reason why the police culture is such an
important force in the work world of the police
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Police learn to approach the public with distrust and suspicion,
expect the public will not understand the job of policing, and
view everyone as a potential problem
This cynical stance also reappears as a viewpoint of other
elements of the CJ system
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in
a Society
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Three points about the police culture
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Develops in response to the pressures of the
job and the traditions of the department
Not uniform across all departments and all
divisions within a department
Not solely adverse in its effects
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in
a Society
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Because the police culture is typically cynical in
its orientation, it tends to discount the value of
authority and exalt the importance of power
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It is common for the police to confuse the two,
seeking an increase in formal power because of the
weak potency of their authority
More important, the dominant police culture puts the
police office at odds with the citizen
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in
a Society
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Two strong values in the police culture
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Control – the ability of the officer to ensure
that responsibilities he or she are assigned
are carried out in an orderly and effective
manner
Dominion – belief of the officer that he or she
has a person ownership in the area to which
they are assigned
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in
a Society
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Both can be perceived negatively by
citizens but positively by police officers
It might be possible to use these police
culture values in a positive manner to help
a community
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Police as a Function of Power in
a Society
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Problem-Based Learning is a method of training
that can help officers better face the
unstructured problems they encounter on the
job
Encourages the development and use of critical
thinking skills
Not currently prominent in police training
academies but it appears to be gaining respect
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
The Criminal Justice Rationale for
Community Policing
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Studies have shown that without good community police
relations, the police face extreme difficulties in carrying
out their work
In the traditional model of policing, police see
themselves as professional crime fighters concerned with
the problem of serious felonies
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With regard to citizens, police are expected to be impersonal
and detached
With regard to crime, police are reactive and investigative,
responding to criminal events based on their seriousness and
building evidence for criminal cases after the crimes have been
reported
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
The Criminal Justice Rationale
for Community Policing
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In the late 1960s a series of studies began
which cast doubt on the effectiveness of
command policing
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Kansas City Preventive Patrol study
Response time analysis study
One person vs. two person car studies
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing
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Robert Trojanowicz seen as father of this style of
policing
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He argued that community policing is a full-service policing
model where the same officer regularly patrols the same area
and forms partnerships with residents to solve problems
Police scholars have identified three different types of
community policing
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Community-building strategies – strengthen community capacity
Problem-oriented strategies – deals with causes of crime
Broken windows strategies – focus on minor crime and physical
disorder
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing
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Community building strategies
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Some community building tactics have proven
to be of little value (e.g., neighborhood watch
and neighborhood meetings) and some have
more durable impact (e.g., victim-assistance
programs, Police Athletic Leagues)
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing
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Each of these methods are theorized to improve
crime-prevention effectiveness in three ways
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The effect of increased day-to-day interaction
between community residents and beat officers is
thought to promote community-based “intelligence”
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The more police and community talk the more information is
shared about crime and criminals in the area
The same contacts are thought to provide another
way to reduce crime when the flow of information is
reversed
The belief that “police legitimacy” within the
neighborhood is crucial to effective crime prevention
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing
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What these strategies have in common is their
attempt to improve some aspect of community
life by increasing interaction among residents or
creating a standing relationship between
community and police
Because of some inherent obstacles, the
communities most in need of assistance are also
the least able to take advantage of this
particular approach
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing

Problem-oriented strategies
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Developed by Herman Goldstein
Based on the idea that crime emanates from
particular, persistent circumstances that can be
identified, documented, and then overcome through
systematic action
One successful strategy has been hot-spots policing
Problem-solving methods seek policing tactics that
are intelligence based
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing

Community building strategies (cont.)
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Medical Model of Policing
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Six types of neighborhoods:
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Intregral – have high levels of pride
Parochial – homogenous values and cultures
Diffuse – much in common, but rarely interact
Stepping-stone – starter homes
Transitory – much movement in and out of neighborhood
Anomic – residents accepted criminal victimization as a
way of life
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing
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In the medical model, the officer is charged with learning about
the neighborhood just like a physician would learn about a
patient
Some terminology is the same as in the medical profession
 Intensive care
 Preventive medicine
 Health education
 Bedside manner
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Physician Heal Thyself
Includes traditional methods when necessary but also interactive
approaches that address long-term problem solving
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing
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CompStat in New York
S.A.R.A. model of problem solving
Scanning
 Analysis
 Response
 Assessment
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Intelligence policing most effective when used
in conjunction with community partnerships
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing

Broken windows strategies
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Because the broken windows thesis holds that crime
results from public disorder, the solution to crime is to
use the police to create order
Often the power of arrest is used to enforce public
order, especially by requiring that these people abide
by public expectations for conduct
Use of “zero tolerance” policing practices are often
controversial
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing and
Community Justice
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Community policing is not the same as community
justice
The COP movement in policing is, for the most part,
particular to the traditional functions of law
enforcement: investigation and arrest
COP is not a panacea but it has been an improvement
over the traditional methods of providing police services
It has also raised a series of questions about the role
and functions of police in modern society and the
capacity of the police to accomplish those functions
alone
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing and
Community Justice

Because of their basic training, officers
often become arbitrators
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Often this provides a short term solution to
the issue at hand, but the solution may not be
lasting
Arbitration involves a person in authority
listening to both sides and then making a
decision that will be implemented
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing and
Community Justice
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Mediation provides an opportunity for both
sides to solve their own problem with the
help of a facilitator
Many police departments are training
officers in mediation techniques
Some police departments have also
adopted mediation as a way to solve
community complaints
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora
Community Policing and
Community Justice
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Officers who have been trained in
mediation have reported that the skills
learned have made them better officers
Community members who participate in
mediation can learn to better understand
divergent viewpoints and learn to use
positive communication skills to address
those differences
© 2012 Todd R. Clear, John R.
Hamilton, Jr. and Eric Cadora