Introduction to Community
Oriented Policing
History Repeats Itself
Dr. Phillip M. Lyons
Sam Houston State University
Texas Community Policing Institute
Texas Community
Policing Institute:
Phillip M. Lyons, Jr. --Assistant Professor SHSU
Ph.D. (Forensic Psychology): Nebraska, 1997
J.D.: Nebraska, 1995
M.A.: (Forensic Psychology): Nebraska, 1995
B.S.: (Behav. Sci.) Univ. Houston-Clear Lake, 1988
A.A.S.: (Law Enf. & Pol. Admin): Alvin C.C., 1985
Former Detective: City of Alvin Police Department
Predoctoral Internship: Fed. Med. Cntr., Fort Worth, TX
Assistant Director, Texas Community Policing Institute
Community Policing
Community Policing is a policing
philosophy that promotes and
supports organizational strategies
to address the causes and reduce
the fear of crime and social
disorder through problem-solving
tactics and community-police
partnerships.
This is Nothing New
• This concept is as
old as organized
policing
• The London
Metropolitan
Police Force 1820’s
• Policing was a
Prevention-based
operation
Sir Robert Peel - 1829
The police are the public and the
public are the police. The police
being the only members of the
public that are paid to give fulltime attention to duties which are
incumbent on every citizen, in the
interests of community welfare and
existence.”
What Forces Change in
Policing?
• Crime
• Problems
• Social
Change
• Technology
• Revolution
• Progress
The Evolution of Modern Policing
Political Era
• Authority &
resources derived
from local political
leaders
– Function was:
• Crime Prevention
• Control
• Order Maintenance
• Technology - Foot patrol;
call boxes
• Strengths:
– Citizen Support
– Neighborhood service
to a community
– Prevented Crimes in
Neighborhoods
• Weaknesses:
– Political Corruption
– Patronage System
– Inefficiency
The Evolution of Modern Policing
Reform Era
• Rejection of political
control
• Civil Service
• Proliferation of Rules
• Limitation of
Discretion
• Mission: Control
Crime through
enforcement
• Community Problems
viewed as “social work”
• Technology: radios, cars,
computers
– Now: MDT’s, AFS, Optical
Imaging, Forensic
Advances
• Performance
Measures: response time,
random patrol availability,
UCR, arrests, adherence to rules
The Evolution of Modern Policing
Reform Era
• Impact to
Community:
• “Anonymous,
“professional” crime
fighters.
– “Just the facts”
• Removal of Beat
officer
• Reactive response to
radio calls
Results of Reform
• We became “Apart”
from the community
rather than A Part of
the community
• Loss of public
confidence in ability
to control crime
Policing Assumptions
• Random Patroling
can prevent crime
• Rapid Response to
Calls increases
likelihood of solution
• Detectives assigned
early to a case will
increase
apprehension
• Random Patrol had
little to no impact
• Rapid Response was
seldom impactful in
solution
• The information
collected by arriving
officer was most
important
Incident Driven Policing
• Incident Driven
• Police Response
(dial-a-cop / you-callwe-haul)
• Reactive
• Limited Information
• Focus on single
incidents
• Reliance on CJ
system
• Efficiency Driven
Beginnings of Community
Policing
• PCR Units
–
–
–
–
“Make friends” with the community
Window dressing to improve image
“Wave & Grin” squads
Monologue
• Crime Prevention
– Valid & tangible function for community
– Limited to lectures & demonstrations
– No dialogue on community problems
Beginnings of Community
Policing
• Problems with PCR & CP Approaches
• Told communities to get organized…. then did
little in the way of follow-up
• Little officer / community identification &
ownership
• Lack of supervisory & management
encouragement of officer problem solving
• Failed to recognize / legitimize “quality of life” /
“community order” concerns
Community Oriented Policing
•
•
•
•
•
•
We / They Partnerships
Broken Windows
Officer Expertise
Citizen is a Resource
Improved PCR
Variety of Strategies /
Tactics
• Decentralized Service
• Increased Officer
Authority /
Accountability
Two Key Elements
• Problem-Solving
(Solution-Oriented
Policing)
• Community
Partnerships
Key Elements to COPPS:
Problem Solving
• Identifying problems or priorities through
coordinated police / community needs
assessments;
• Collecting and Analyzing information concerning
the problem in a thorough, though not necessarily
complicated manner;
• Developing or Facilitating Responses that are
innovative and tailor-made with the best potential
for eliminating or reducing the problem;
• Evaluating the response to determine its
effectiveness & modifying it as necessary.
Key Elements to COPPS:
Community Partnerships
This is a flexible term referring to any
combination of neighborhood residents,
schools, churches, businesses, communitybased organizations, elected-officials, and
government agencies who are working
cooperatively with the police to resolve
identified problems that impact or interest
them.
8 Steps in Building Community
Partnerships
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify your partners
Develop a community profile
Initiate dialogue
Organize community meetings
Identify issues
Formulate your plan
Take action
Maintenance
Community Policing Today
• Recognition that Peel
was right - the police can
not control crime; we
MUST have community
cooperation
• Innovative, SolutionOriented Policing
becoming more accepted
• Understanding that
COPPS is NOT “soft” on
crime
3-Word Definition for
Community Oriented
Policing
• Consultation
• Adaptation
• Mobilization
Consultation
• Police Officers must consult with citizens
to determine the policing priorities:
–
–
–
–
Neighborhood Meetings
Surveys
Telephone
One-on-One
Adaptation
• Police agencies and personnel:
– Must be willing to change in order to
address priorities identified in the
Consultation process.
• Challenge the Traditional.
• New Methods.
Mobilization
• We must identify all of the
stakeholders and resources and
bring them to the table.
• Look both internally
and externally.
• The police serve as a catalyst to
drive them to action.
Texas Regional Community
Policing Institute
• Academy Support
– Infuse curriculum with
problem-solving tactics
and solution-oriented
policing philosophy
• Executive Leadership
Training
– Implementation
issues and problems
• Quantifying Quality /
Crime-Specific
Policing & Analysis
– Software development
• Community Role
Enhancement in
COPPS
– Often discussed,
seldom addressed
Texas Regional Community
Policing Institute
• Centralized Computer
Server
– Access to curricula
– Links to other COPPS
info. sites
– Information exchange
(agencies)
– Repository of solutionoriented tactics
Texas Regional Community
Policing Institute
• Newsletter / Bulletin
– Modeled after
TELEMASP
– Provide resources and
information
– Identify effective
crime-specific policing
strategies
• Nuisance abatement
• Condemnation
• Tenant Control
Summary
• Started Connected to
the Community
• Political Influence and
Technology were
catalysts for becoming
Disconnected
• Now we are returning
to the “roots” of
policing
Solution-Oriented Policing
(Problem Solving)
Dr. Phillip Lyons
Sam Houston State University
Texas Regional Community Policing Institute
Traditional v. Problem
Oriented
• TRADITIONAL
– Take a report
– Take another report
– Take yet another
report
– Randomly patrol
• PROBLEM ORIENTED
– Constantly review
reports for patterns
– Look for
commonalties that
can be addressed
– Look for root cause
- construction, low
lighting, low traffic
Solution-Oriented Policing
(Problem-Oriented Policing)
• A department-wide strategy aimed at
solving persistent community problems.
Police identify, analyze, and respond to the
underlying circumstances that create
incidents. Eck & Spelman (1987)
• It not necessarily easier & takes more time,
planning, resources, cooperation, &
community interactions.
Goldstein’s 5 Concerns
Leading To POP
• Police are preoccupied with management, internal
procedures, and efficiency to the exclusion of
appropriate concern for effectiveness in dealing
with substantive problems.
• Police devote most of their resources to
responding to calls from citizens, reserving too
small a percentage of their time and energy for
acting on their own initiative to prevent or reduce
community problems.
Goldstein’s Five Concerns
(Cont.)
• The community is a major resource with an
enormous potential, largely untapped, for reducing
the number and magnitude of problems that
otherwise become the business of the police.
• Within agencies, police have readily available to
them their rank and file officers, whose time and
talents have not been used effectively.
Goldstein’s Five Concerns
(Cont.)
• Efforts to improve policing have often failed
because they have not been adequately related to
the overall dynamics and complexities of the
police organization. Adjustments in policies and
organizational structure are required to
accommodate and support change.
Efficiency v. Effectiveness
• EFFICIENCY - doing
things RIGHT.
• EFFECTIVENESS Doing the RIGHT
things.
Ideally, both efficiency and
effectiveness are present
in policing.
Central Principles of
Problem Solving
• Thoughtful analysis
• Creative response in non-traditional
sense
• Uses solutions outside the criminal justice
system
• Encourages community to take
responsibility for problems and solutions
• Effectiveness vs. Efficiency
What is a “Problem”
• Two or more
incidents
• related in one or
more ways
• causing harm or
likely to cause harm
or
• involving a public
expectation of action
Ways to Identify Problems
• Businesses
• National
Organizations
• Newspaper
• Community
Groups
• Internal Units
• Churches,
Schools, etc.
• Crime analysis
Problem Prioritization
• Level of
Community
Concern
• Broken
Window?
• Position of
Jeopardy
Addressing Problems
• Group incidents as problems.
• Focus on substantive problems as the
heart of policing.
• Effectiveness is the ultimate goal.
• Need for systematic inquiry.
• Disaggregation & accurately labeling
problem.
• Analysis of multiple interests in
problems.
Addressing Problems
• Capturing & critiquing the current
response.
• An uninhibited search for a tailor-made
response.
• Adopting a proactive stance.
• Strengthening the decision-making
process and increasing accountability.
• Evaluating results of newly implemented
responses.
6 Ways Problems are
Linked
• Location
• Suspects
• Victim
Group
• Behavior
Pattern
• Time
• Evidence
“Circle of Concern” v.
“Area of Influence”
Circle of
Concern
Area of
Influence
SARA
Eck & Spelman (1987)
• Scanning - identifying the problem
• Analysis - learning the problems causes,
scope, and effects
• Response - acting to alleviate the problem,
that is selecting the alternative
solution or solutions to try
• Assessment - determining if the
response worked
Two Questions for Analysis
• What do I need to
know?
• Where do I get
the Information?
The Crime Triangle
Location
Victim
Suspect
3 “Response” Limitations
• Moral
• Legal
• Ethical
– Adhere to Community Norms
– Use Common Sense
– Be Creative
5 Potential Outcomes
• Eliminate It
• Reduce the Scope
• Reduce the Harm
• Improve the Process
• Shift responsibility
to the correct source
Suggestions for implementation
• Focus on problems of
public concern
• Effectiveness as
primary concern
• Be Proactive
• Be committed to
systematic inquiry
• Use rigorous methods
during inquiry
• Fully use police files &
personnel’s experience
• Group like incidents
together - address as a
common problem
• Avoid overly broad
labels/categories-ID
separate problems as
such
• Broad & uninhibited
search for solutions
• Commit to take some
risks in responding
Crime-Specific Planning
• Although a part of problem-oriented
policing, it is more specific in that it
approaches the criminal justice problem by
considering underlying problems that are
categorized by the type of offense.
• Crime-specific planning uses solutionoriented policing to identify priorities.
Common Mistakes in POP
• Too much energy on unimportant details
• Failing to resolve important issues
• Be less-than-forthcoming about true
feelings
• Having a closed mind
• Not expressing ideas
• Inability to decide
• Procrastination -analysis paralysis
• Failing to set deadlines
• Using unreliable sources of information
Mental Locks that Inhibit
Finding Creative Solutions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The “right” answer
“That’s not logical”
Follow the “rules”
It must be “practical”
Avoiding ambiguity
To Err is “wrong”
That’s not my Area
I’m not Creative
KILLER PHRASES judgments, critical
statements that are
put downs & stifle
creativity
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
It too radical
It’s contrary to policy
That’s not our job
That's too much hassle
It will never work
It’s too expensive
Get REAL!
We’ve Got to Solve Problems
With New Thinking
Exercise:
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New Ideas for Old Problems
• Lose the “cuff’em and stuff’em” attitude
• Address the cause, not the symptom
• Is the REAL problem what is listed as the
arrest title or the title on the offense report?
• What alternative solutions can be derived?
“A problem well stated is a problem half solved”
Solution-Oriented Policing
There are several
complaints regarding
noisy teens who gather
outside a particular
teen’s house everyday
after school.
• Scanning - identifying the
problem
• Analysis - learning the
problems causes, scope, and
effects
• Response - acting to alleviate
the problem, that is selecting
the alternative solution or
solutions to try
• Assessment - determining if the
response worked
Solution-Oriented Policing
Several complaints of
speeding have
occurred on a busy
street in the business
district.
• Scanning - identifying the
problem
• Analysis - learning the
problems causes, scope, and
effects
• Response - acting to alleviate
the problem, that is selecting
the alternative solution or
solutions to try
• Assessment - determining if the
response worked
Solution-Oriented Policing
Ongoing vandalism at
a parking lot adjacent
to a swimming pond.
The view of the lot is
obscured by a nice
grove of trees on a
small hill.
• Scanning - identifying the
problem
• Analysis - learning the
problems causes, scope, and
effects
• Response - acting to alleviate
the problem, that is selecting
the alternative solution or
solutions to try
• Assessment - determining if the
response worked
Solution-Oriented Policing
Several black labs
have attacked a
neighborhood
resident.
• Scanning - identifying the
problem
• Analysis - learning the
problems causes, scope, and
effects
• Response - acting to alleviate
the problem, that is selecting
the alternative solution or
solutions to try
• Assessment - determining if the
response worked
The Challenge of
Problem Solving
Organizational Impediments:
– Resistance to change
– Dependent on outside Agency
Cooperation
– Lack of Internal Organizational
Support
The Challenge of
Problem Solving
Supervisory Impediments:
– Lack of Management Support
– Supervisors Resist Change
– Fail to Keep Officers Focused
– Supervisors Lack Leadership
Skills
New Approaches to Policing
• Seeing the
Connection
• Creative Solutions
• Innovative Strategies
• Evaluating Our
Efforts
• Involving the
Resources of the
Community
Thank You
• Conclusions & Discussion