analysis tools and approaches for problem solving in community policing

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Community-Oriented Policing and Problem-Oriented Policing

In 1979, Hermon Goldstein observed from several studies conducted at the time on standard policing practices that law enforcement agencies seemed to be more concerned about the means rather than the goals of policing. He argued that law enforcement agencies should shift away from the traditional, standard model of policing and that police become more proactive, rather than reactive, in their approaches to crime and disorder (Hinkle et al., 2020; Weisburd et al., 2010). Goldstein’s work set the stage for the development of two new models of policing: community-oriented policing (COP) and problem-oriented policing (POP).

COP is a broad policing strategy that relies heavily on community involvement and partnerships, and on police presence in the community, to address local crime and disorder. POP provides law enforcement agencies with an analytic method to develop strategies to prevent and reduce crime and disorder, which involves problem identification, analysis, response, and assessment (National Research Council, 2018).

Although COP and POP differ in many ways, including the intensity of focus and diversity of approaches (National Research Council, 2004), there are several important similarities between them. For example, COP and POP both represent forms of proactive policing, meaning they focus on preventing crime before it happens rather than just reacting to it after it happens. Further, both COP and POP require cooperation among multiple agencies and partners, including community members (National Research Council, 2018). In addition, POP and COP overlap in that each involves the community in defining the problems and identifying interventions (Greene, 2000).

Although few studies focus on youth involvement in COP and POP, youths can play an important role in both strategies. In COP, youths often are part of the community with whom police work to identify and address problems. Youths can be formally involved in the process (i.e., engaging in local community meetings) or informally involved in efforts to strengthen the relationship between the police and members of the community. For example, a police officer on foot patrol may decide to engage with youths in the community through casual conversation, as part of a COP approach (Cowell and Kringen, 2016). Or police might encourage youth to participate in activities, such as police athletic leagues, which were designed to prevent and reduce the occurrence of juvenile crime and delinquency, while also seeking to improve police and youth attitudes toward each other (Rabois and Haaga, 2002). Using POP, law enforcement agencies may specifically focus on juvenile-related problems of crime and disorder. For example, the Operation Ceasefire intervention, implemented in Boston, MA, is a POP strategy that concentrated on reducing homicide victimization among young people in the city (Braga and Pierce, 2005).

This literature review discusses COP and POP in two separate sections. In each section, definitions of the approaches are provided, along with discussions on theory, examples of specific types of programs, overlaps with other policing strategies, and outcome evidence.

Specific research on how police and youth interact with each other in the community will not be discussed in this review but can be found in the Interactions Between Youth and Law Enforcement literature review on the Model Programs Guide.  

Community-Oriented Policing Definition

Community-oriented policing (COP), also called community policing, is defined by the federal Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systemic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime” (Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services, 2012:3). This policing strategy focuses on developing relationships with members of the community to address community problems, by building social resilience and collective efficacy, and by strengthening infrastructure for crime prevention. COP also emphasizes preventive, proactive policing; the approach calls for police to concentrate on solving the problems of crime and disorder in neighborhoods rather than simply responding to calls for service. This model considerably expands the scope of policing activities, because the targets of interest are not only crimes but also sources of physical and social disorder (Weisburd et al., 2008).

After gaining acceptance as an alternative to traditional policing models in the 1980s, COP has received greater attention and been used more frequently throughout the 21st century (Greene, 2000; National Research Council, 2018; Paez and Dierenfeldt, 2020). The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 articulated the goal of putting 100,000 additional community police officers on the streets and established the federal Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services. Research from 2013 suggests that 9 out of 10 law enforcement agencies in the United States that serve a population of 25,000 or more had adopted some type of community policing strategy (Reaves, 2015).

COP comprises three key components (Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services, 2012):

• Community Partnerships. COP encourages partnerships with stakeholders in the community, including other government agencies (prosecutors, health and human services, child support services and schools); community members/groups (volunteers, activists, residents, and other individuals who have an interest in the community); nonprofits/service providers (advocacy groups, victim groups, and community development corporations); and private businesses. The media also are an important mechanism that police use to communicate with the community.
• Organizational Transformation. COP emphasizes the alignment of management, structure, personnel, and information systems within police departments to support the philosophy. These changes may include increased transparency, leadership that reinforces COP values, strategic geographic deployment, training, and access to data.
• Problem-Solving. Proactive, systematic, routine problem-solving is the final key component of COP. COP encourages police to develop solutions to underlying conditions that contribute to public safety problems, rather than responding to crime only after it occurs. The SARA model (which stands for Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment) is one major conceptual model of problem-solving that can be used by officers (for a full description of the SARA model, see Problem-Oriented Policing below).

At the heart of COP is a redefinition of the relationship between the police and the community, so that the two collaborate to identify and solve community problems. Through this relationship, the community becomes a “co-producer” of public safety in that the problem-solving process draws on citizen expertise in identifying and understanding social issues that create crime, disorder, and fear in the community (Skolnick and Bayley, 1988; Gill et al., 2014; National Research Council, 2018).

COP is not a single coherent program; rather, it encompasses a variety of programs or strategies that rest on the assumption that policing must involve the community. Elements typically associated with COP programs include the empowerment of the community; a belief in a broad police function; the reliance of police on citizens for authority, information, and collaboration; specific tactics (or tactics that are targeted at particular problems, such as focused deterrence strategies) rather than general tactics (or tactics that are targeted at the general population, such as preventive patrol); and decentralized authority to respond to local needs (Zhao, He, and Lovrich, 2003). One Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) survey of MCCA members found that some of the most common COP activities were officer representation at community meetings, bicycle patrols, citizen volunteers, foot patrols, police “mini-stations” (see description below), and neighborhood storefront offices (Scrivner and Stephens, 2015; National Research Council, 2018).

Community members who engage in COP programs generally report positive experiences. For example, residents who received home visits by police officers as part of a COP intervention reported high confidence in police and warmth toward officers, compared with residents who did not receive visits (Peyton et al., 2019). Notably, however, those who participate in COP–related activities, such as community meetings, may not be representative of the whole community (Somerville, 2008). Many individuals in communities remain unaware of COP activities, and those who are aware may choose not to participate (Adams, Rohe, and Arcury, 2005; Eve et al., 2003). Additionally, it can be difficult to sustain community participation. While police officers are paid for their participation, community members are not, and involvement could take time away from family and work (Coquilhat, 2008).

Specific Types of COP Programs

Because COP is such a broad approach, programs that involve the community may take on many different forms. For example, some COP programs may take place in a single setting such as a community center, a school, or a police mini-station. Other COP–based programs, such as police foot patrol programs, can encompass the entire neighborhood. The following are different examples of specific types of COP programs and how they can affect youth in a community.

School Resource Officers (SROs) are an example of a commonly implemented COP program in schools. SROs are trained police officers who are uniformed, carry firearms and a police department badge, and have arrest powers. They are tasked with maintaining a presence at schools to promote safety and security (Stern and Petrosino, 2018). The use of SROs is not new; SRO programs first appeared in the 1950s but increased significantly in the 1990s as a response to high-profile incidents of extreme school violence and the subsequent policy reforms (Broll and Howells, 2019; Lindberg, 2015). SROs can fulfill a variety of roles. They are intended to prevent and respond to school-based crime; promote positive relationships among law enforcement, educators, and youth; and foster a positive school climate (Thomas et al., 2013).

The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), the largest professional organization of SROs, formally defines the SRO roles using a “triad model,” which aligns with community policing models (May et al., 2004), and includes the three primary functions of SROs: 1) enforcing the law; 2) educating students, school staff, and the community; and 3) acting as an informal counselor or mentor (Broll and Howells, 2019; Fisher and Hennessy, 2016; Javdani, 2019; Thomas et al., 2013). There may be significant variability in how these roles and responsibilities are balanced, as they are usually defined through a memorandum of understanding between the local law enforcement agency and the school district (Fisher and Hennessy, 2016). Even with the SRO responsibilities formally spelled out, there may still be tensions and ambiguities inherent to the SRO position based on their positioning at the intersection of the education system and the juvenile justice system, which often have competing cultures and authority structures (Fisher and Hennessy, 2016). As members of the police force, the SROs may view problematic behaviors as crimes, whereas educators view them as obstacles to learning. Another ambiguity is that as an informal counselor/mentor, the SRO is expected to assist students with behavioral and legal issues, which may result in a conflict of interest if the adolescent shares information about engaging in illegal activities (Fisher and Hennessy, 2016).

Evaluation findings with regard to the effectiveness of the presence of SROs in schools have been inconsistent. In terms of school-related violence and other behaviors, some studies have found that SROs in schools are related to decreases in serious violence (Sorensen, Shen, and Bushway, 2021; Zhang, 2019), and decreases in incidents of disorder (Zhang, 2019). Others have found increases in drug-related crimes (Gottfredson et al., 2020; Zhang, 2019) associated with the presence of SROs in schools, and other studies have shown no effects on bullying (Broll and Lafferty, 2018; Devlin, Santos, and Gottfredson, 2018). In terms of school discipline, one meta-analysis (Fisher and Hennessy, 2016) examined the relationship between the presence of SROs and exclusionary discipline in U.S. high schools. Analysis of the seven eligible pretest–posttest design studies showed that the presence of SROs was associated with rates of school-based disciplinary incidents that were 21 percent higher than incident rates before implementing an SRO program. However, in another study, of elementary schools, there was no association found between SRO presence and school-related disciplinary outcomes, which ranged from minor consequences, such as a warning or timeout, to more serious consequences such as suspension from school (Curran et al., 2021).

Further, several studies have been conducted on the effects of SROs on students’ attitudes and feelings. One example is a survey of middle and high school students (Theriot and Orme, 2016), which found that experiencing more SRO interactions increased students’ positive attitudes about SROs but decreased school connectedness and was unrelated to feelings of safety. Conversely, findings from a student survey, on the relationship between awareness and perceptions of SROs on school safety and disciplinary experiences, indicated that students’ awareness of the presence of SROs and their perceptions of SROs were associated with increased feelings of safety and a small decrease in disciplinary actions. However, students belonging to racial and ethnic minority groups reported smaller benefits related to SROs, compared with white students (Pentek and Eisenberg, 2018).

Foot Patrol is another example of a program that uses COP elements. Foot patrol involves police officers making neighborhood rounds on foot. It is a policing tactic that involves movement in a set area for the purpose of observation and security (Ratcliffe et al., 2011). The primary goals of foot patrol are to increase the visibility of police officers in a community and to make greater contact and increase rapport with residents. Officers sometimes visit businesses on their beat, respond to calls for service within their assigned areas, and develop an intimate knowledge of the neighborhood. Additionally, police officers on foot patrols may offer a level of “citizen reassurance” to community members and may decrease a resident’s fear of crime by bringing a feeling of safety to the neighborhood (Wakefield, 2006; Ratcliffe et al., 2011; Walker and Katz, 2017). Another duty of foot patrol officers is to engage youth in the community, and some are instructed to go out of their way to engage vulnerable youth. For example, if an officer sees a group of youths hanging out on a street corner, the officer may stop and initiate casual conversation in an effort to build a relationship (Cowell and Kringen, 2016).

Though foot patrols limit the speed at which an officer can respond to a call (compared with patrol in a vehicle), research has found that community members are more comfortable with police being in the neighborhood on foot. Residents are more likely to consider an officer as “being there for the neighborhood” if they are seen on foot (Cordner, 2010; Piza and O’Hara, 2012).

While there are mixed findings regarding the effectiveness of foot patrols on crime (Piza and O’Hara, 2012), improved community relationships are one of the strongest benefits. Research has shown that foot patrol improves the relationships between community members and police officers through increasing approachability, familiarity, and trust Ratcliffe et al. 2011; Kringen, Sedelmaier, and Dlugolenski, 2018). Foot patrols can also have a positive effect on officers. Research demonstrates that officers who participate in foot patrol strategies have higher job satisfaction and a higher sense of achievement (Wakefield, 2006; Walker and Katz, 2017).

Mini-Stations are community-forward stations that allow police to be more accessible to members of a community. Mini-stations (also known as substations, community storefronts, and other names) can be based in many places—such as local businesses, restaurants, or community centers—and can be staffed by police officers, civilian employees, volunteers, or a combination of these groups, and have fewer officers stationed in them (Maguire et al., 2003). These stations allow officers to build on existing relationships with businesses in the area and give citizens easier access to file reports and share community concerns. Additionally, they are a means to achieving greater spatial differentiation, or a way for a police agency to cover a wider area, without the cost of adding a new district station (Maguire et al., 2003). Residents can also go to mini-stations to receive information and handouts about new policing initiatives and programs in the community. Police mini-stations also increase the overall amount of time officers spend in their assigned patrol areas. The concept of mini-stations stems from Japanese kobans , which gained prominence in the late 1980s. Officers who worked in kobans became intimately familiar with the neighborhood they served and were highly accessible to citizens (usually within a 10-minute walk of residential homes) [Young, 2022].

Mini-stations can also be helpful to youth in the community. For example, Youth Safe Haven mini-stations are mini-stations that are deployed in 10 cities by the Eisenhower Foundation. These mini-stations were first developed in the 1980s and are located in numerous youth-related areas, including community centers and schools (Eisenhower Foundation, 2011). In addition to crime outcomes (such as reduced crime and fear of crime), goals of youth-oriented mini-stations include homework help, recreational activities, and providing snacks and social skills training. Older youths can be trained to be volunteers to assist younger youths with mentoring and advocacy. There are mixed findings regarding mini-stations and their effect on crime rates, but research has shown that adults and older youths who participate in mini-station community programs (or have children who participate) are more likely to report crime, and younger youths are more comfortable speaking with police (Eisenhower Foundation, 1999; Eisenhower Foundation, 2011).

Theoretical Foundation

COP approaches are usually rooted in two different theories of crime: broken windows theory and social disorganization theory (Reisig, 2010; National Research Council, 2018). Both focus on community conditions to explain the occurrence of crime and disorder.

Broken Windows Theory asserts that minor forms of physical and social disorder, if left unattended, may lead to more serious crime and urban decay (Wilson and Kelling, 1982). Visual signs of disorder (such as broken windows in abandoned buildings, graffiti, and garbage on the street) may cause fear and withdrawal among community members. This in turn communicates the lack of or substantial decrease in social control in the community, and thus can invite increased levels of disorder and crime (Hinkle and Weisburd, 2008). In response, to protect the community and establish control, the police engage in order maintenance (managing minor offenses and disorders). Four elements of the broken windows strategy explain how interventions based on this approach may lead to crime reduction (Kelling and Coles, 1996). First, dealing with disorder puts police in contact with those who commit more serious crimes. Second, the high visibility of police causes a deterrent effect for potential perpetrators of crime. Third, citizens assert control over neighborhoods, thereby preventing crime. And finally, as problems of disorder and crime become the responsibility of both the community and the police, crime is addressed in an integrated fashion. COP programs rooted in broken windows theory often use residents and local business owners to help identify disorder problems and engage in the development and implementation of a response (Braga, Welsh, and Schnell, 2015).

Social Disorganization Theory focuses on the relationship between crime and neighborhood structure; that is, how places can create conditions that are favorable or unfavorable to crime and delinquency (Kubrin and Weitzer, 2003). Social disorganization refers to the inability of a community to realize common goals and solve chronic problems. According to the social disorganization theory, community factors such as poverty, residential mobility, lack of shared values, and weak social networks decrease a neighborhood’s capacity to control people’s behavior in public, which increases the likelihood of crime (Kornhauser, 1978; Shaw and McKay, 1969 [1942]). Researchers have used various forms of the social disorganization theory to conceptualize community policing, including the systemic model and collective efficacy (Reisig, 2010). The systemic model focuses on how relational and social networks can exert social controls to mediate the adverse effects of structural constraints, such as concentrated poverty and residential instability. The model identifies three social order controls with decreasing levels of influence: 1) private, which includes close friends and family; 2) parochial , which includes neighbors and civic organizations; and 3) public, which includes police (Bursik and Grasmick, 1993; Hunter, 1985). Community policing efforts based on the systemic model can increase informal social controls by working with residents to develop stronger regulatory mechanisms at the parochial and public levels (Kubrin and Weitzer, 2003; Resig, 2010). Collective efficacy, which refers to social cohesion and informal social controls, can mitigate social disorganization. Community policing can promote collective efficacy by employing strategies that enhance police legitimacy in the community and promote procedurally just partnerships, to encourage residents to take responsibility for public spaces and activate local social controls (Resig, 2010).

Outcome Evidence

Although there are numerous programs that incorporate COP, there are limited examples of COP programs that directly target youth, and fewer that have been rigorously evaluated (Forman, 2004; Paez and Dierenfeldt, 2020). The following programs, which are featured on CrimeSolutions , are examples of how COP has been implemented and evaluated in different cities.

The Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS , developed in 1993, incorporates aspects of both community and problem-oriented policing (see Problem-Oriented Policing, below). The CAPS approach has been implemented by dividing patrol officers into beat teams and rapid response teams in each of the districts. Beat teams spend most of their time working their beats with community organizations, while rapid response teams concentrate their efforts on excess or low-priority 911 calls. Meetings occur monthly for both teams, and they receive extensive training. This structure enables officers to respond quickly and effectively to problems that they have not been traditionally trained to handle but have learned how to do by receiving training, along with residents, in problem-solving techniques. Civic education, media ads, billboards, brochures, and rallies have been used to promote awareness of the program in the community (Skogan, 1996; Kim and Skogan, 2003).

To evaluate the effects of the CAPS program, one study (Kim and Skogan, 2003) examined the impact on crime rates and 911 calls. Data were collected from January 1996 to June 2002, using a time-series analysis. The study authors found statistically significant reductions in crime rates and 911 calls in police beats that implemented the CAPS program, compared with police beats that did not implement the program.

Some studies have found that foot-patrol interventions make varying impacts on different types of street violence. Operation Impact , a saturation foot-patrol initiative in the Fourth Precinct of Newark, NJ, was selected as the target area based on an in-depth analysis of the spatial distribution of street violence. The initiative primarily involved a nightly patrol of 12 officers in a square-quarter-mile area of the city, which represented an increase in police presence in the target area. Officers also engaged in proactive enforcement actions that were expected to disrupt street-level disorder and narcotics activity in violence-prone areas. One study (Piza and O’Hara, 2012) found that the target area that implemented Operation Impact experienced statistically significant reductions in overall violence, aggravated assaults, and shootings, compared with the control area that implemented standard policing responses. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the target and control areas in incidents of murder or robbery.

With regard to community-based outcomes, other studies have shown that COP programs have demonstrated positive results. A COP intervention implemented in New Haven, CT , consisted of a single unannounced community home visit conducted by uniformed patrol officers from the New Haven Police Department. During the visits, the patrol officers articulated their commitment to building a cooperative relationship with residents and the importance of police and residents working together to keep the community safe. One evaluation found that residents in intervention households who received the COP intervention reported more positive overall attitudes toward police, a greater willingness to cooperate with police, had more positive perceptions of police performance and legitimacy, had higher confidence in police, reported higher scores on perceived warmth toward police, and reported fewer negative beliefs about police, compared with residents who did not receive home visits. These were all statistically significant findings. However, there was no statistically significant difference in willingness to comply with the police between residents in households that received home visits, compared with those who did not (Peyton et al., 2019).

Problem-Oriented Policing Definition

Problem-oriented policing (POP) is a framework that provides law enforcement agencies with an iterative approach to identify, analyze, and respond to the underlying circumstances that lead to crime and disorder in the community and then evaluate and adjust the response as needed (Braga et al., 2001; Hinkle et al., 2020; National Research Council, 2004). The POP approach requires police to focus their attention on problems rather than incidents (Cordner and Biebel, 2005). Problems, in this model, are defined “as chronic conditions or clusters of events that have become the responsibility of the police, either because they have been reported to them, or they have been discovered by proactive police investigation, or because the problems have been found in an investigation of police records” (National Research Council, 2004:92).

The POP strategy contrasts with incident-driven crime prevention approaches, in which police focus on individual occurrences of crime. Instead, POP provides police with an adaptable method to examine the complicated factors that contribute and lead to crime and disorder, and develop customized interventions to address those factors (National Research Council, 2018).

As noted previously, the idea behind the POP approach emanated several decades ago (Goldstein, 1979) from observations that law enforcement agencies seemed to be more concerned about the means rather than the goals of policing, or “means-over-ends syndrome” (Goldstein, 1979; Eck, 2006; MacDonald, 2002). In 1990, this work was expanded to systematically define and describe what it meant to use POP approaches in policing. During the 1990s, law enforcement agencies in the United States and other countries (such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom) began to implement POP strategies (Scott, 2000).

The traditional conceptual model of problem-solving in POP, known as the SARA model, consists of the following four steps (Weisburd et al., 2010; Hinkle et al., 2020; National Research Council, 2004):

• Scanning. Police identify problems that may be leading to incidents of crime and disorder. They may prioritize these problems based on various factors, such as the size of the problem or input from the community.
• Analysis. Police study information about the identified problem or problems, using a variety of data sources, such as crime databases or surveys of community members. They examine information on who is committing crimes, victims, and crime locations, among other factors. Police then use the information on responses to incidents — together with information obtained from other sources — to get a clearer picture of the problem (or problems).
• Response. Police develop and implement tailored strategies to address the identified problems by thinking “outside the box” of traditional police enforcement tactics and creating partnerships with other agencies, community organizations, or members of the community, depending on the problem. Examples of responses in POP interventions include target hardening, area cleanup, increased patrol, crime prevention through environmental design measures, multiagency cooperation, and nuisance abatement.
• Assessment. Police evaluate the impact of the response through self-assessments and other methods (such as process or outcome evaluations) to determine how well the response has been carried out and what has been accomplished (or not accomplished). This step may also involve adjustment of the response, depending on the results of the assessment.

The SARA model was first defined by a POP project conducted in Newport News, VA, during the 1980s. The Newport News Task Force designed a four-stage problem-solving process . A case study of the project revealed that officers and their supervisors identified problems, analyzed, and responded to these problems through this process, thus leading to the SARA model (Eck and Spelman, 1987).

Since the creation and development of SARA, other models have been established, in part to overcome some noted weaknesses of the original model, such as an oversimplification of complex processes or a process in which problem-solving is nonlinear. These other models include the following 1) PROCTOR (which stands for PROblem, Cause, Tactic or Treatment, Output, and Result); 2) the 5I’s (Intelligence, Intervention, Implementation, Involvement, and Impact); and 3) the ID PARTNERS (which stands for I dentify the demand; D rivers; P roblem; A im, R esearch and analysis; T hink creatively; N egotiate and initiate responses; E valuate; R eview; and S uccess) [Sidebottom and Tilley, 2010]. However, compared with these models, the SARA model appears to be used more often by agencies that apply a POP approach to law enforcement (Sidebottom and Tilley, 2010; Borrion et al., 2020).

A POP approach can be used by law enforcement agencies to address youth-related issues, including offenses committed by youths (such as gun violence, vandalism, graffiti, and other youth-specific behaviors such as running away from home or underage drinking.

For example, in the 2019–20 school year, about one third of public schools experienced vandalism (Wang et al., 2022). If a police agency wanted to tackle the problem of school vandalism , often committed by youth, they could apply the SARA model to determine the scope of the problem, develop an appropriate response, and conduct an overall assessment of efforts. A problem-oriented guide, put together by the Problem-Oriented Policing Center at Arizona State University, outlines the steps that law enforcement agencies can take to use the SARA model and address the issues of vandalism committed specifically at schools (Johnson, 2005).

Thus, during the scanning step of the SARA model, to identify the problem police would focus on the specific problem of school vandalism by examining multiple sources of data, including information gathered from both police departments and school districts. During the analysis step, police would ask about the specific school vandalism problems they are targeting, such as 1) how many and which schools reported vandalism to the police, 2) which schools were vandalized, 3) what are the characteristics (such as the age, gender, school attendance rate) of any youth identified as committing the vandalism, and 4) on what days and times the vandalism occurred. The analysis step also should include information from various data sources, including official reports to the police of school vandalism incidents, interviews with SROs, and information from students at the school (Johnson, 2005).

Once police have analyzed the school vandalism problem and have a clear picture of the issue, they would then move on to the response step. The response depends on what police learn about the vandalism problem at schools. For example, if police find that vandalism occurs because youths have easy access to school grounds, especially after school hours, they might suggest a response that improves building security. Finally, during the assessment stage, police would determine the degree of effectiveness of their response to school vandalism through various measures of success, such as the reduction in the number of incidents of vandalism, the decrease in the costs for repair of damaged property, and the increase of incidents (when they do occur) in which the person or persons who engaged in vandalism are identified and apprehended (Johnson, 2005).

Overlap of POP With Other Policing Strategies

POP shares several similarities and overlapping features with other policing models, such as focused deterrence strategies and hot-spots policing. Hot-spots policing involves focusing police resources on crime “hot spots,” which are specific areas in the community where crime tends to cluster. Hot-spots policing interventions tend to rely mostly on traditional law enforcement approaches (National Research Council, 2004; Braga et al., 2019). Focused deterrence strategies (also referred to as “pulling levers” policing) follow the core principles of deterrence theory. These strategies target specific criminal behavior committed by a small number of individuals who repeatedly offend and who are vulnerable to sanctions and punishment (Braga, Weisburd, and Turchan, 2018).

While POP, focused deterrence, and hot spots policing are three distinct policing strategies, there can be an overlap in techniques. For example, a POP approach can involve the identification and targeting of crime hot spots, if the scanning and analysis of the crime problems in a community reveal that crime is clustering in specific areas. Further, a hot-spots policing intervention may use a problem-oriented approach to determine appropriate responses to address the crime in identified hot spots. However, POP can go beyond examination of place-based crime problems, and hot-spots policing does not require the detailed analytic approach used in POP to discern which strategy is appropriate to prevent or reduce crime (Hinkle et al., 2020; National Research Council, 2018; Gill et al., 2018). Similarly, POP involves targeting resources to specific, identified problems, in a similar way that focused deterrence strategies target specific crimes committed by known high-risk offenders. However, focused deterrence strategies tend to rely primarily on police officers to implement programs, whereas POP may involve a variety of agencies and community members (National Research Council, 2004).

Although POP, focused deterrence, and hot-spots policing differ in some distinct ways (such as intensity of focus and involvement of other agencies), these strategies may often overlap (National Research Council, 2004).

POP draws on theories of criminal opportunity to explain why crime occurs and to identify ways of addressing crime, often by altering environmental conditions (Reisig, 2010). While much criminological research and theory are concerned with why some individuals offend in general, POP strategies often concentrate on why individuals commit crimes at particular places, at particular times, and against certain targets (Braga, 2008; Goldstein, 1979; Eck and Spelman, 1987; Eck and Madensen, 2012). Thus, POP draws on several theoretical perspectives that focus on how likely individuals (including those who may commit a crime and those who may be victimized) make decisions based on perceived opportunities. These include rational choice theory, routine activities theory , and situational crime prevention (Braga, 2008; Braga et al., 1999; Eck and Madensen, 2012; Hinkle et al., 2020; McGarrell, Freilich, and Chermak, 2007). These three theories are considered complements to one another (Tillyer and Eck, 2011).

Rational Choice Theory focuses on how incentives and constraints affect behavior (Cornish and Clark 1986; Gull, 2009). In criminology, rational choice theory draws on the concepts of free will and rational thinking to examine an individual’s specific decision-making processes and choices of crime settings by emphasizing their motives in different situations. The starting point for rational choice theory is that crime is chosen for its benefits. Thus, rational choice theory informs POP by helping to examine and eliminate opportunities for crime within certain settings. Eliminating these opportunities should help to intervene with a potential offender’s motives to commit a crime (Karğın, 2010).

Routine Activity Theory , formulated by Cohen and Felson (1979), is the study of crime as an event, highlighting its relation to space and time and emphasizing its ecological nature (Mir ó–Llinares , 2014). It was originally developed to explain macro-level crime trends through the interaction of targets, offenders, and guardians (Eck, 2003). The theory explains that problems are created when offenders and targets repeatedly come together, and guardians fail to act. Since its formulation, routine activity theory has expanded. In terms of POP, routine activity theory implies that crime can be prevented if the chances of the three elements of crime (suitable target, motivated offender, and accessible place) intersecting at the same place and at the same time are minimized (Karğın, 2010). The SARA problem-solving methodology allows law enforcement agencies to examine and identify the features of places and potential targets that might generate crime opportunities for a motivated offender and develop solutions to eliminate these opportunities, thereby preventing future crime (Hinkle et al., 2020).

Situational Crime Prevention was designed to address specific forms of crime by systematically manipulating or managing the immediate environment with the purpose of reducing opportunities for crime. The goal is to change an individual’s decisionmaking processes by altering the perceived costs and benefits of crime by identifying specific settings (Clarke, 1995; Tillyer and Eck, 2011). Situational crime prevention has identified a number of ways to reduce opportunity to commit crime, such as: 1) increase the effort required to carry out the crime, 2) increase the risks faced in completing the crime, 3) reduce the rewards or benefits expected from the crime, 4) remove excuses to rationalize or justify engaging in criminal action, and 5) avoid provocations that may tempt or incite individuals into criminal acts (Clarke 2009). Certain POP strategies make use of situation crime prevention tactics during the response phase, such as physical improvements to identified problem locations. These may include fixing or installing street lighting, securing vacant lots, and getting rid of trash from the streets (Braga et al., 1999).

Although the POP approach is a well-known and popular approach in law enforcement, there have been a limited number of rigorous program evaluations, such as randomized controlled trials (National Research Council 2018; Gill et al. 2018), and even fewer evaluations specifically centered on youth. 

One meta-analysis (Weisburd et al., 2008) reviewed 10 studies, which examined the effects of problem-oriented policing on crime and disorder. These included various POP interventions and took place in eight cities across the United States (Atlanta, GA; Jersey City, NJ; Knoxville, TN; Oakland, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; San Diego, CA; and one suburban Pennsylvania area.) and six wards in the United Kingdom. The studies evaluated interventions focused on reducing recidivism for individuals on probation or parole; interventions on specific place-based problems (such as drug markets, vandalism and drinking in a park, and crime in hot spots of violence); and interventions that targeted specific problems such as school victimization. Findings across these studies indicated that, on average, the POP strategies led to a statistically significant decline in measures of crime and disorder.

The following programs, which are featured on CrimeSolutions, provide a brief overview of how POP has been implemented and evaluated in the United States. Programs with examined youth-related outcomes or a specific focus on youth are noted; however, most of the research on POP interventions does not focus on youth.

Operation Ceasefire in Boston (first implemented in 1995) is a problem-oriented policing strategy that was developed to reduce gang violence, illegal gun possession, and gun violence in communities. Specifically, the program focused on reducing homicide victimization among young people in Boston (Braga and Pierce, 2005). The program involved carrying out a comprehensive strategy to apprehend and prosecute individuals who carry firearms, to put others on notice that carrying illegal firearms faces certain and serious punishment, and to prevent youth from following in the same criminal path. The program followed the steps of the SARA model, which included bringing together an interagency working group of criminal justice and other practitioners to identify the problem (scanning); using different research techniques (both qualitative and quantitative) to assess the nature of youth violence in Boston ( analysis ); designing and developing an intervention to reduce youth violence and homicide in the city, implementing the intervention, and adapting it as needed ( response ); and evaluating the intervention’s impact ( assessment ). An evaluation of the program found a statistically significant reduction (63 percent) in the average number of youth homicide victims in the city following the implementation of the program. There were also statistically significant decreases in citywide gun assaults and calls for service (Braga et al., 2001). Similarly, another study found a statistically significant reduction (24.3 percent) in new handguns recovered from youth (Braga and Pierce, 2005).

Another program implemented in the same city, the Boston Police Department’s Safe Street Teams (SSTs) , is an example of a place-based, problem-oriented policing strategy to reduce violent crime and includes some components targeting youth. Using mapping technology and violent index crime data, the Boston Police Department identified 13 violent crime hot spots in the city where SST officers could employ community- and problem-oriented policing techniques such as the SARA model. SST officers implemented almost 400 distinct POP strategies in the crime hot spots, which fell into three broad categories: 1) situational/environment interventions, such as removing graffiti and trash or adding or fixing lighting, designed to change the underlying characteristics and dynamics of the places that are linked to violence; 2 ) enforcement interventions, including focused enforcement efforts on drug-selling crews and street gangs, designed to arrest and deter individuals committing violent crimes or contributing to the disorder of the targeted areas; and 3) community outreach/social service interventions, designed to involve the community in crime prevention efforts. Examples of these activities included providing new recreational opportunities for youth (i.e., basketball leagues), partnering with local agencies to provide needed social services to youth, and planning community events. One evaluation (Braga, Hureau, and Papachristos, 2011) found that over a 10-year observation period areas that implemented the SSTs interventions experienced statistically significant reductions in the number of total violent index crime incidents (17.3 percent), in the number of robbery incidents (19.2 percent), and in the number of aggravated assault incidents (15.4 percent), compared with the comparison areas that did not implement the interventions. However, there were no statistically significant effects on the number of homicides or rape/sexual assault incidents. The study also did not examine the impact on youth-specific outcomes.

The Problem-Oriented Policing in Violent Crime Places (Jersey City, N.J.) intervention used techniques from hot spots policing and POP to reduce violent crime in the city. The program and evaluation design followed the steps of the SARA model. During the scanning phase, the Jersey City Police Department and university researchers used computerized mapping technologies to identify violent crime hot spots. During the analysis phase, officers selected 12 pairs of places for random assignment to the treatment group, which received the POP strategies, or to the control group. During the response phase, the 11 officers in the department’s Violent Crime Unit were responsible for developing appropriate POP strategies at the hot spots. For example, to reduce social disorder, aggressive order maintenance techniques were applied, including the use of foot and radio patrols and the dispersing of groups of loiterers. During the assessment phase, the police department evaluated the officers’ responses to the problems, and either adjusted the strategies or closed down the program to indicate that the problem was alleviated. An evaluation found statistically significant reductions in social and physical incivilities (i.e., disorder), the total numbers of calls for service, and criminal incidents at the treatment locations that implemented POP techniques, compared with the control locations (Braga et al., 1999).

COP and POP are two broad policing approaches that, while sharing many characteristics, are still distinct—owing to the focus of their respective approaches. COP’s focus is on community outreach and engagement and does not necessarily rely on analysis methods such as the SARA model. For POP, the primary goal is to find effective solutions to problems that may or may not involve the participation of the community (Gill et al., 2014).

Though COP and POP may differ in their approaches, the end goal is the same in both models. Both are types of proactive policing that seek to prevent crime before it happens. COP and POP also both rely on cooperation from numerous different parties and agencies, including community members (National Research Council, 2018). The two models are similar enough that they often overlap in implementation. For example, the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) incorporates elements from both models. Using aspects of COP, police officers divide into beat teams and spend most of their time working with community organizations. With regard to POP, CAPS trains officers and residents to use problem-solving techniques that stem from its theoretical basis (Skogan, 1996; Kim and Skogan, 2003).

There are, however, limitations in the research examining the effectiveness of these models. For example, evaluation studies on COP and POP tend to focus on results related to crime and disorder; other outcomes, such as collective efficacy, police legitimacy, fear of crime, and other community-related outcomes are often overlooked or not properly defined (Hinkle et al., 2020; Gill et al., 2014). Exploring other community-related outcomes would be useful, as community involvement is an important component to both models. Further, some researchers have noted specific limitations to the implementation of COP and POP interventions. With regard to COP programs, for example, the definition of “community” is sometimes lacking. This can be an important factor to define, as community may mean something different across law enforcement agencies (Gill et al., 2014). Regarding POP programs, it has been noted that the rigor of the SARA process is limited and that law enforcement agencies may take a “shallow” approach to problem-solving (National Research Council, 2018:193; Borrion et al., 2020). To date, the research on both models has lacked focus on youth; only a few evaluations have focused on youth in either in the implementation process or in examined outcomes (Braga et al., 2001; Gill et al., 2018). Despite these limitations, however, the outcome evidence supports the effectiveness of COP and POP interventions to reduce crime and disorder outcomes.

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About this Literature Review

Suggested Reference: Development Services Group, Inc. January  2023. “Community-Oriented Policing and Problem-Oriented Policing.” Literature review. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/model-programs-guide/literature-reviews/community-oriented-problem-oriented-policing

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Community-oriented policing to reduce crime, disorder and fear and increase satisfaction and legitimacy among citizens: a systematic review

• Published: 02 August 2014
• Volume 10 , pages 399–428, ( 2014 )

Cite this article

• Charlotte Gill 1 ,
• David Weisburd 2 , 1 ,
• Cody W. Telep 3 ,
• Zoe Vitter 1 &
• Trevor Bennett 4  

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Systematically review and synthesize the existing research on community-oriented policing to identify its effects on crime, disorder, fear, citizen satisfaction, and police legitimacy.

We searched a broad range of databases, websites, and journals to identify eligible studies that measured pre-post changes in outcomes in treatment and comparison areas following the implementation of policing strategies that involved community collaboration or consultation. We identified 25 reports containing 65 independent tests of community-oriented policing, most of which were conducted in neighborhoods in the United States. Thirty-seven of these comparisons were included in a meta-analysis.

Our findings suggest that community-oriented policing strategies have positive effects on citizen satisfaction, perceptions of disorder, and police legitimacy, but limited effects on crime and fear of crime.

Conclusions

Our review provides important evidence for the benefits of community policing for improving perceptions of the police, although our findings overall are ambiguous. The challenges we faced in conducting this review highlight a need for further research and theory development around community policing. In particular, there is a need to explicate and test a logic model that explains how short-term benefits of community policing, like improved citizen satisfaction, relate to longer-term crime prevention effects, and to identify the policing strategies that benefit most from community participation.

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Citizens’ reactions to hot spots policing: impacts on perceptions of crime, disorder, safety and police

Rethinking Community Policing – Collective Efficacy First

We thank an anonymous peer reviewer for this useful description.

Studies were not excluded on the basis of language, but we lacked resources to conduct our search in languages other than English.

Note that meta-analysis is performed on the log odds ratio, but we present findings as odds ratios for simplicity.

If we assume that crime counts follow a Poisson distribution, the standard error would be the same as for the odds ratio because Poisson is a generalization of the binomial distribution. However, this assumption is not realistic at places: counts tend to be overdispersed (see Bowers et al. 2011 ).

The method for calculating the variance of this adjusted OR varies depending on whether the same people were interviewed in the pre- and post-intervention surveys. If the samples are different, the variance is simply the sum of the variances of the pre- and post-test ORs. If the studies report panel data (measures based on the same sample), the variance falls between the post-test variance and the sum of the variances, depending on the pre-post covariance, which is not reported in studies. In this analysis, it was not always clear from the original studies whether panel samples were used, although it appeared that most studies surveyed different people in each wave. We performed sensitivity analyses and elected to use the sum of the variances for all effect size calculations based on survey data, which is correct for the majority of studies, and a more conservative estimate for the panel studies because it overestimates the variance of these studies.

Note that the numbers in the table are based on the 65 independent treatment–control comparisons reported in the studies, not the 25 publications.

All the studies involved some degree of community collaboration in order to meet our eligibility criteria.

We did not code organizational transformation because this was rarely discussed in studies and was not well operationalized.

Some reported outcome measures were ineligible for our review, even if the overall study was eligible. For example, in some studies, crime outcomes were measured pre- and post-intervention in treatment and control sites, but citizen surveys were only conducted in the treatment sites or only in the post-intervention period. Studies also reported an array of findings, not all of which were relevant to our outcomes of interest or comparable with outcomes measured in other studies.

Only 34 of these comparisons are included in the meta-analyses. Pate et al. ( 1986 ) included 5 comparisons across two sites, but each site used a common control group so we picked one comparison from each of the two sites at random (PCS in Houston and CCPP in Newark) to maintain statistical independence.

The five studies are Connell et al. 2008 , Segrave and Collins 2005 , and three comparisons reported in Uchida et al. 1992 (Kingston, Gate City, and Oakland).

Note that, in the References:* Denotes a reference to a study included in the systematic review** Denotes a reference to a study included in both the systematic review and meta-analysis

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Acknowledgments

This systematic review was supported by a grant from the National Policing Improvement Agency (UK) to the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed here are those of the authors alone. We are grateful to a number of colleagues who have provided helpful feedback on presentations of the preliminary results, and to the graduate students at George Mason University who assisted with data collection and coding.

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Gill, C., Weisburd, D., Telep, C.W. et al. Community-oriented policing to reduce crime, disorder and fear and increase satisfaction and legitimacy among citizens: a systematic review. J Exp Criminol 10 , 399–428 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-014-9210-y

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Article Contents

Introduction, a citizen-centric approach, evaluating the pilot, conclusion and discussion.

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Meaningful interventions: Applying a citizen-centric approach to problem-solving in community policing

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Ronald van Steden, Jordi den Hartog, Meaningful interventions: Applying a citizen-centric approach to problem-solving in community policing, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice , Volume 18, 2024, paae030, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paae030

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Citizens generally express confidence in the police organization, but satisfaction with police services can diminish after voluntary contact with an officer. It appears that officers sometimes struggle to understand what citizens expect and need from them. Victims of crime may not necessarily wish to punish an offender; they may just want to be heard and have their problem resolved. In response, the Dutch police have introduced a pilot to provide ‘meaningful interventions’, such as conflict mediation, as a way to bridge institutional and citizen perspectives successfully. This article presents a qualitative evaluation of the pilot by applying the EMMIE framework, which stands for Effect, Mechanisms, Moderators, Implementation, and Economics, to the available data. In conclusion, meaningful interventions show promise in better aligning police service delivery with the needs and expectations of citizens. Future research is necessary to gain a fuller evidence-based analysis of how meaningful interventions work.

As is the case with other police forces across the West ( Home Office, 2023 ), the Dutch constabulary face a peculiar paradox. On the one hand, the police are the most trusted institution in the country. According to Statistics Netherlands, 77% of the population expresses confidence in the police, surpassing confidence in, for example, the press (40%), the parliament (30%), and the church (30%) ( CBS, 2023 ). On the other hand, after there has been personal contact with police officers, public satisfaction with their daily work drops significantly. While most people (64%) still hold positive views about their initial contact when reporting a problem to the police, there is also disappointment with the outcome of this contact. Among those dissatisfied with police contact, 40% complain that their problem has not been resolved ( CBS, 2022 ).

The challenge for (community) police officers is how to best support citizens to deal with problems they report. While officers address various ‘problems the public expect them to solve’ ( Eck and Spelman, 1987 , p. 37), scholarly publications in the field of policing tend to restrict their content to ‘what works’ in reducing (fear of) crime ( Mannings et al. , 2016 ; Moore and Braga, 2003 ). Yet, crime is just one element of public demand for police service. The majority of calls and reports received at police stations involve mental health crises, domestic violence, incidents, accidents, neighbourly disputes, non-criminal behaviour complaints, and requests for help or assistance ( Boulton et al. , 2017 ; Laufs et al. , 2021 ). Such problems require prompt or long-term action and do not necessarily follow a criminal justice logic. Individuals may just need support.

Citizens have high expectations of the actions taken by police, as uniformed officers carry significant symbolic meaning and value. They represent a trustworthy pillar of peace and order that offers people a sense of security in a chaotic world ( Loader, 1997 ; Walker, 1996 ). However, citizens’ personal experiences with the police matter as much, if not more, than symbolic attitudes ( Orr and West, 2007 ). Given that actions taken by officers can frequently be disappointing, a better understanding of police–citizen contact and its outcomes is essential for the development of ‘customised’ or ‘tailor-made’ solutions ( Arlbjørn et al. , 2011 ) that address citizens’ needs. Currently, there is limited knowledge about how these solutions are implemented and appreciated in the context of community policing. When people voluntarily contact the police, subsequent interventions need not only to be ‘just’ and ‘fair’ ( Wells, 2007 ) but also to meet their specific requirements.

Against this background, we introduce and explore the concept of ‘meaningful interventions’ ( betekenisvolle interventies ; Felser et al. , 2017 ), a term coined by the Dutch police. This concept does not suggest that the police primarily engage in meaningless interventions. Rather, it emphasizes the importance of thinking ‘from outside in’ ( Alford and Speed, 2006 ) to better align their service delivery with the interests and expectations of citizens. Police officers are stimulated to find the preferably ‘restorative’ ( Clamp and Paterson, 2017 ) solutions within or outside of the criminal justice system that fit citizens’ intentions and needs best. It is not an institutional-centric approach, but a citizen-centric approach that must be the starting point for police actions and interventions.

The three research questions of our article are: (1) What kind of problems and conflicts do citizens report to the police? (2) What kind of meaningful interventions are offered by the police? and (3) How do citizens and the police assess the practices and outcomes of these interventions? These questions are answered through a pilot evaluation carried out by a specially trained community police officer and a project secretary (second author) under supervision of an academic scholar (first author) and a broader project steering committee. The subsequent section briefly outlines the theoretical background of a ‘client’ (or, more accurately phrased ‘citizen’) focus in policing, followed by an overview of the study’s methodology, analytical framework, and empirical results. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of our findings.

Skogan and Hartnett (1997) identify responsiveness to people’s needs and encouragement of positive relationships between officers and neighbourhood inhabitants in solving local safety problems as core elements of community policing. Under the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy, these scholars and the police organized so-called ‘beat meetings’ to allow groups of voluntary citizens to inform local officers directly about crime and safety issues in their local areas and to build partnerships around solutions. The philosophy behind meaningful interventions ( Felser et al. , 2017 ), as developed within the Dutch police service, takes the ideal of responsive problem-solving one step further by applying individual and individualized attention to citizens who report crime, disorder, nuisance, and conflicts.

The importance of this customization focus deserves a little more elaboration. Although the Dutch police use the terms ‘clients’ and ‘customers’ in official policy documents themselves, this private-sector style jargon creates some unease in relation to the public and regulatory task of the force. Citizens do not directly pay for police services, they are unable to choose among different competing companies, police contact is often involuntary and stressful, and the police do not simply aim to please customers or provide straightforward ‘value-for-money’ ( Alford, 2002 ). Therefore, it seems more appropriate to refer to a ‘citizen’ rather than a ‘client’ approach. Following this citizen-centric approach, as implied in meaningful interventions, does not mean the police should be ‘run like a business’ ( Beckett, 2000 ). Instead, the police should adjust their internal organizational logic towards what citizens need from them.

To illustrate this, let’s consider the fictional example of a fight between two ex-lovers. The victim reports the incident at a local police station. A standard bureaucratic reaction (the ‘institutional-centric approach’) would involve completing a crime report without any assurance of a proper follow-up. In a police view, ‘minor’ relationship disputes are not their priority, making further criminal investigation highly unlikely. This would disappoint the victim, resulting in negative consequences for public satisfaction regarding police contact and, more crucially, undertaking action. Moreover, the criminal justice trajectory is regarded as an ultimum remedium , a last resort, when all other options have failed ( Bittner, 1990 [1970 ]). Overuse of criminal law enforcement serves the interests of neither victims nor offenders.

It is very well possible that the victim in our fictional example has intentions other than mere retribution and deterrence when reporting the incident to the police ( Wemmers, 2002 ). Perhaps she or he wants to put an end to a problem, draw a firm line under it, or ask for advice. Criminal justice responses may not be the best route to follow in addressing this kind of need. Hence, within the constraints of rules, regulations, and directives, community police officers are expected to make ‘discretionary judgement’ in determining how to handle situations and what works best for an individual citizen. Following Lipsky, ‘to a degree, the society seeks not only impartially from its public agencies but also compassion for special circumstances and flexibility in dealing with them’ ( 2010 [1980 ], p. 15). Tailor-made responses are necessary to ‘fit’ a police intervention to specific situations and needs.

Putting people’s problems first sheds another light on how to structurally organize the everyday practices of community policing. As Seddon argues, if organizations are designed ‘to do the “value work’”—what matters to the customer [i.e. the citizen]—and only the value work, cost will fall as service improves’ ( 2017 , p. 31). Pursuing a citizen-centric approach thus seeks to better understand victims’ and offenders’ (or a mix thereof) intentions and needs. This approach should be taken into account in daily police operations through meaningful interventions that contribute to effective problem-solving. Effective problem-solving, in turn, is expected to increase public satisfaction with police and may lead to a variety of other contributions from the general public that create ‘public value’ ( Moore, 1995 ). Think, for example, of providing the police with useful information and compliance with the law.

Examining meaningful interventions

The pilot was conducted between January and October 2022 within the southern district of the Amsterdam police force in the Netherlands ( Den Hartog and Van Steden, 2023 ). The goal was to offer the police a fresh perspective on handling crime reports, with the potential for meaningful interventions and, as anticipated, resolutions addressing citizens’ demands and needs. A community police officer underwent additional training before the pilot intervention. The training, spanning 6 days, focussed on acquiring fundamental negotiating skills, including conversation techniques, decision-making processes, de-escalation tactics, facilitating acceptable solutions between parties, and enhancing awareness of the legal and ethical aspects of mediation. Upon completing the training, the officer received a formal certificate. Moreover, a non-executive (administrative) police practitioner, who also served as the project secretary (the second author of this paper), collected, documented, and analysed the data following the interventions. Prior to participating in the pilot program, citizens provided the police with their consent.

Initially, the project secretary examined eighty meaningful interventions. However, in eight cases, the community police officer decided not to implement the intervention, mostly due to ongoing recidivism among conflicting parties. As a result, she was left with a total of 72 cases. The project secretary interviewed 40 respondents involved in the interventions to gather information about the outcomes in terms of problem resolution and to interview them about their other experiences with the pilot (as also described below). Additionally, he had conversations with the community police officer during and after each case to reflect on the process, time commitment, and outcomes of the interventions. Detailed notes were taken and recorded in his research diary.

The interventions carried out by the community police officer were uniquely tailored to the citizens and the problems they faced. Once an intervention was made, the responsibility for upholding the outcomes rested with the conflicting parties. However, the community officer sometimes needed to follow-up on her interventions to reinforce previous agreements made. This pilot was conducted under the supervision of a project steering committee in which the first author, an academic scholar, took part. The committee, which convened three times, discussed interim findings and assisted the project secretary in structuring and interpreting the data.

Calling citizens back

The project secretary contacted the conflicting parties approximately 2 months after the completion of the intervention. In these telephone conversations, he inquired about how they experienced the intervention and its effect or impact on their current situation. Participation in the interviews was voluntary. We were able to collect qualitative information about 28 cases (39% of the 72 cases, involving 40 respondents) by conducting interviews with at least one of the conflicting parties, resulting in 40 conversations. The evaluation of the remaining 44 cases was impeded by multiple factors, including unresponsiveness from respondents (4 cases), lack of cooperation or denial of responsibility by individuals involved (17 cases), indirect involvement of a community officer (4 cases, where advice was given to a colleague), the risk of reigniting conflicts (9 cases), and ongoing or recently completed cases (10 cases), rendering a comprehensive assessment either impossible or imprudent due to these constraints.

Inspired by the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction in the UK, we analysed our data using the EMMIE framework ( Johnson et al ., 2015 ; Thornton et al. , 2019 ). This framework serves as an analytical toolkit for synthesizing literature reviews and empirical findings from fieldwork and offers a practical format for engaging policymakers and practitioners with scholarly evidence. The acronym EMMIE represents five elements: E ffect (direction and impact size of an intervention), M echanisms (factors that produce specific effects), M oderators (conditions under which variations in outcomes occur), I mplementation (of interventions), and E conomics (cost-benefit analysis of an intervention). The individual items that inform these elements are listed below:

E ffect : What is the impact of interventions on solving citizens’ problems and conflicts?

M echanisms : Which factors contribute to this impact, positively or negatively?

M oderators : What are favourable and unfavourable contexts for interventions to work—or not?

I mplementation : What is necessary for successfully implementing an intervention?

E conomics : How much time did the community police officer spend on the inventions (costs) and how satisfied were the participating citizens with these interventions (benefits)?

Data collection took place by calling back participating citizens and by obtaining reflections from the trained community police officer regarding cases, interventions, and outcomes. The data were grouped under the five elements of EMMIE afterwards. The results of our qualitative pilot evaluation are provided in the next section.

Types of conflicts

Table 1 provides a brief description of the 72 types of conflict that are being investigated. The cases were reported to the police through different channels, particularly intake and service staff, the internal case-screening bureau, and other police colleagues such as community officers. Each case began with citizens reporting a crime or problem to the police. In many instances, police solutions other than strictly criminal justice interventions (investigation, apprehension, and prosecution) were preferred because most conflicting parties knew each other quite well and wanted to restore their disturbed relationship. Additionally, the reported cases often lacked investigative indications such as clear evidence or independent witnesses and would normally be dismissed. However, by contacting the police, citizens did expect that their conflict or problem would be addressed in some way. The anticipated meaningful interventions intended to meet their specific interests and needs.

Types of conflict

Types of interventions

In response to problems and conflicts in local neighbourhoods, the police implemented six types of meaningful intervention, all of which had a restorative component ( Table 2 ). These tailor-made interventions are not infinite in scope and can be grouped under the following categories:

Types of intervention

Consultation: Providing practical and legal advice to the citizen reporting a crime or conflict, guiding them on the best course of action to resolve their problem;

‘Valuable’ conversation: Offering practical advice to enhance citizens’ ability to resolve conflicts themselves.

Reprimand: Issuing a firm warning to make it clear to a suspect that he/she crossed a line, aiming to raise awareness and prevent future unwanted behaviour;

Specific deterrence conversation: Delivering an oral and/or written notice to demand that a suspect immediately cease his/her (allegedly) illegal action;

Shuttle mediation: Assisting disputing parties in reaching an agreement (reconciliation, settlement, or compromise) outside of the criminal justice system, without requiring direct physical contact between them;

Face-to-face mediation: Facilitating a resolution between disputing parties by bringing them physically together outside of the criminal justice system.

Within these categories, the community officer had much room to manoeuvre in making decisions. There were no clear correlations between the type of conflict and the chosen intervention in response.

A majority (77%) of our respondents involved in 24 cases ( N  = 35; for 5 respondents, it was too early to judge any effects) gave positive feedback regarding the police interventions. They had experienced progress or a settlement of their problem and praised the ‘constructive’ police contacts, the ‘added value’ of police involvement, and the ‘beneficial impact’ of the community officer. Respondents specifically felt ‘reassured’ and ‘at peace’ after the officer’s interventions:

I am very pleased with the community officer. My situation has been solved through a restorative intervention. (Respondent #11) After the first specific deterrence letter, there was no contact whatsoever between us. Yet, at the beginning of this year, a photo of me was sent to the other party. This was likely a trigger to re-establish contact again. The community police officer has spoken to both of us and communicated the outcomes. [. . .] It has been quiet again ever since. (Respondent #13) When something happened, I looked at my own role and felt shame: how could I have been so stupid? Now that feeling has been straightened out in the contact with the community officer. The shame has been removed. (Respondent #23) The community officer provided valuable advice and support. I am now better equipped to stand my ground, for example, by saying, ‘and now it is over’. [. . .] I feel also reassured because I used to be afraid that new situations would arise. (Respondent #30)

However, according to other respondents, the impact of interventions was less effective or sustainable than anticipated. In eight cases, they reported a lack of effects. Situations had not changed or could escalate again:

The community police officer provided advice and reassurance, but ultimately [. . .] the situation did not change. (Respondent #1) The sustainability of the agreement is not assured. It should have been written down. The outcome is too non-committal now. (Respondent #20)

It is thus important to note that tailor-made police interventions, designed to meet citizens’ needs and settle their situations, are not a panacea.

Our respondents mentioned five main mechanisms for achieving a positive effect resulting from police interventions. These mechanisms are complex and may interfere with each other, but for the sake of clarity, we present them separately. The first mechanism refers to the police time made available for constructive contact:

I liked the fact that there was time to discuss the situation despite time pressures and staff shortages. (Respondent #3) I liked the fact that I could directly text the police officer on her phone. There was time for personal contact, which simulated a sense of trust. (Respondent #22)

Respondents described the community police officer as ‘discrete’, ‘friendly’, and ‘professional’. One felt that covert conflict mediation was much preferable over an invasive ‘bunch of uniformed officers on my doorstep’ (Respondent #14).

Secondly, offering tailor-made interventions has contributed to greater clarity about what the police could or could not do for citizens, particularly those who were having their first contact with the police:

It was the first time I was in contact with the police. So, it was all new. (Respondent #37)

Respondent #9 added that she had reported a crime to the police before but had not heard anything since. She now knows that something is happening with her case, which has restored her confidence in the police. However, because the search for ‘meaningful interventions’ was not (and is still not) part of the standard police repertoire, citizens sometimes felt uncertain about potential financial costs and legal consequences. A few respondents (#5 and #8) were caught by surprise by the telephone call from the police offering them an alternative conflict settlement.

Thirdly, the respondents mentioned the ‘knowledge’, ‘expertise’, and ‘decisiveness’ of the community police officer. They described her as a ‘go-getter’ as she prevented conversations from devolving into mere ‘yes-no-discussions’. In addition, the community officer effectively calmed parties down when tensions escalated due to differing viewpoints:

[It] was very nice [. . .] that steps were taken. The community police officer was understanding, listened well, and acted professionally. (Respondent #13) The community police officer was incredibly committed. [. . .] She did not let frictions put her off. [. . .] Whether left or right, she tried to guide and restore contact with the conflicting party. (Respondent #15) The case was settled thanks to the quality of the community police officer. She managed to [. . .] find a smart way forward. (Respondent #16)

Fourthly, the community officer provided practical advice on how conflicting parties could adequately respond to a conflict. She discussed the pros and cons of potential actions and ensured that promises and agreements among conflicting parties were upheld. In 12 of our cases, consideration was given to financial compensation for damages. Ultimately, such compensation was disbursed in only four cases. It is important to note that agreeing on financial settlements was always voluntary. In instances where citizens denied personal responsibility for losses or property damages, no compensation was awarded.

A fifth and final mechanism that helped to carry solutions forward was the community police officer involving third parties in the equation. For example, in cases of domestic disputes, she made contact with Safe at Home ( Veilig Thuis ), a Dutch non-profit social support organization for people in conflict situations such as domestic violence and abuse:

I started a trajectory with Safe at Home. The community police officer also made a connection. It’s a good thing this has been done. [. . .] Advice has been given on the next steps. (Respondent #9)

This kind of collaboration between police and third parties contributed to more comprehensive case files that could be used for undertaking further action by police or by others. Meaningful interventions thus provided a clearer overview of conflict situations.

The interventions carried out by the community police officer took place within a broader social context, which influenced the observed outcomes. Apart from the mechanisms discussed above, the circumstances under which the police must operate had an impact, whether intended or unintended, on the effectiveness of these interventions. While it was impossible to accurately evaluate the interactions between mechanisms, moderating factors, and their potential effects, engaging in reflective conversations with the community police officer yielded some general insights.

According to her perspective, the circumstances were deemed ideal when the parties in conflict were familiar with each other and the conflict had begun relatively recently. Whether they were family members, friends, business associates, or neighbours, if the likelihood of future interaction was high, it often, though not invariably, fostered receptiveness to restorative and other non-punitive interventions. Additionally, it was preferable for the number of involved parties to be limited. Among our cases, 61 instances comprised conflicts between two individuals or between multiple individuals belonging to two conflicting groups or households, encompassing the vast majority (total N  = 72). In 11 cases, 3 or more individuals were involved. While most conflicts tend to be short-lived, 13 of our cases had persisted for several years. In these prolonged conflicts, where parties had entrenched themselves in a recurring ‘fighting attitude’, achieving transformation was particularly challenging. Meaningful interventions seemed less effective here.

A related observation was that meaningful interventions were most likely to succeed when the conflicts were not overly complicated and lacked criminal justice entanglements or solutions. The presence of physical harm most probably increases the occurrence of suboptimal outcomes. While we did not encounter cases in which individuals displayed erratic behaviour or other forms of psychological instability, it was conceivable that such circumstances could also undermine the effectiveness of police interventions. Participants needed to exhibit a certain level of rationality to fully engage in the pilot. Otherwise, a referral to public or mental health institutions might be a more viable option.

Implementation

The implementation of interventions refers to how things are done to produce successful outcomes. Police colleagues involved in responding to reported conflicts and problems, along with the trained community officers, made decisions about cases suitable for alternative interventions by taking into account their context, history, and complexity (moderators). If cases appeared promising, the community officer or her police colleagues contacted citizens to inform them about their options and to seek their consent to participate in the pilot. External parties that played a role included housing associations in cases of neighbourhood disputes and Safe at Home in cases of domestic problems. The police occasionally collaborated with these partners on issues such as behavioural agreements.

Regarding citizens involved, telephone contact was crucial for discussing cases on short notice. The community police officer, in consultation with the conflicting parties, sometimes chose to continue with phone contact (so-called ‘shuttle mediations’). In other instances, people received a formal letter inviting them to a personal meeting at the police station. Almost everyone responded to this invitation. Customization was continuously the focal point of interventions: What did citizens need? Where had citizens been most helped, and how could support be achieved?

Just like customization, thoroughness was an important factor in the implementation process. This applied to both the preparation and execution of the interventions. Well-prepared initial meetings with the citizens were crucial to identify the relevant factors that had led to their conflicts. It was also important that participants had enough time to consider their options. As shown in Table 3 , during the pilot period, half of the 72 cases had a lead time of approximately 1 month, and 89% of the cases were resolved within two months. A ‘quick fix’ was often not a viable option.

The lead time of cases

Nevertheless, despite the community police officer’s efforts, not all respondents reacted positively to her interventions. One respondent (#13) believed that the situation was too complicated to be satisfactorily discussed in just half an hour. In his opinion, the community officer did not get the complete picture. Two others (#1 and #5) expressed criticism regarding the officer’s approach towards considering the interests of suspects. As victims, they felt that their interests should have been prioritized. Respondent #10 expressed frustration because his neighbours were not willing to participate in a restorative conversation. The principle of voluntariness may hinder the effective implementation of tailor-made solutions.

There are costs and benefits associated with police interventions. However, estimating these is an extremely complex task. To provide a general impression, we first calculated the time spent on the meaningful interventions. Our calculations included the following components: preparation and administration, telephone contact, and/or in-person conversations at the police station. Table 4 provides an overview of the average time consumption related to the various interventions.

Average hours spent on interventions

It can be argued that meaningful interventions cost the police less time (and budget) compared to the traditional route of reporting a crime, filing a report, screening this report, and taking criminal justice action—or not. Furthermore, if the police do postpone a case, this may result in double handling. As a respondent explained:

When reporting a crime to the police, I expected that they would address my case. And had I not been satisfied, I would have made another report. (Respondent #30)

In addition, failing to intervene in a conflict situation could lead to escalation, resulting in even more police work and harm caused to those involved:

If the police do nothing, there is the possibility of vigilantism: taking the law into one’s own hands. My brother had found out a lot about the perpetrator. Action by the community officer had a de-escalating effect. (Respondent #9) The police intervention likely prevented a worsening situation of noise pollution. [. . .] If the conflict had persisted, it would have further deteriorated the atmosphere. (Respondent #11)

In our analysis of the pilot’s ‘benefits’, we evaluated these kinds of ‘costs’ in relation to citizen satisfaction with the meaningful interventions. Their feedback was generally promising. In 22 out of the 28 cases, 34 respondents answered the question regarding their satisfaction with the mediator on a scale of 1–10 (it was decided to include this question after six interviews had already been conducted). This yielded an average rating of 8.1, with 2 respondents giving unsatisfactory ratings. Here are three examples of positive comments:

I already had trust in the police but have become even more positive about them. (Respondent #15) I would probably not have gotten that far without help of the police. [. . .] The situation was handled just fine. (Respondent #18) I did not realise that conflict mediation was an option too. It really helped me. (Respondent #27)

We can thus cautiously conclude that the cost-benefit balance of meaningful interventions looks favourable. Interventions seem ‘cheaper’ (i.e. cost less police time) than traditional criminal justice trajectories and strengthen trust in and satisfaction (benefits) with the police.

There exists a gap between the general public’s confidence in the police as a government agency and their personal trust and satisfaction with their experiences of voluntary police contact. Citizens rank the police as a highly trusted state institution, but they can frequently become disappointed and frustrated when the police fail to take adequate action to address their public safety concerns. This discrepancy is worrisome because a lack of trust and confidence in the police can erode the perceived legitimacy of law enforcement and reduce public support for their actions. Consequently, people may become less willing to cooperate with the police and share information about crimes or suspects ( Home Office, 2023 ).

In addition to investment in community engagement as a means of improving problem-solving and enhancing public perceptions of the police ( Skogan and Hartnett, 1997 ), the Dutch police conducted experiments with ‘meaningful interventions’ ( Felser et al. , 2017 ) designed in accordance with a citizen-centric perspective. This tailor-made approach differs from the traditional police way of working, which is rooted in criminal justice responses ( Bittner, 1990 [1970 ]). Such responses are not always effective because citizens may not consistently report crimes, or they may be unwilling to seek prosecution and punishment for the offender ( Wemmers, 2002 ). Instead, they may be seeking help, support, and advice. It is thus vital for the police to better understand these intentions and needs.

In our study of a pilot project in the Netherlands, we found that people frequently contacted the police regarding neighbour quarrels, youth problems, relational conflicts, and various other types of disputes. These problems were, at times, grave and harmful, but people did not necessarily advocate for harsh criminal justice sanctions. Their main preference was to stop or resolve the conflicts and restore broken relationships with spouses, neighbours, or business partners. In response, the Dutch police provided consultations, valuable conversations, reprimands, specific deterrence conversations, shuttle mediations, and face-to-face mediations. All interventions were designed to best meet the expectations, interests, and needs of the people involved in the pilot.

Our qualitative evaluation of the meaningful interventions revealed that, in general, these interventions had a positive effect on the situations: respondents felt ‘reassured’ and more ‘at peace’ after seeing progress in their situations. Possible factors contributing to positive effects included the availability of time to listen to people’s stories and explain what the police can and cannot do, the community officer’s decisiveness in taking appropriate action, and the involvement of third parties such as social support services if necessary. Meaningful interventions seem most effective when a limited number of conflicting parties are familiar with each other, conflicts are not prolonged or too severe, participation is voluntary, and the parties demonstrate an appropriate level of rationality and willingness to resolve their disputes. ‘Customisation’ (tailor-made solutions) and ‘thoroughness’ (good preparation) are key factors in implementing these interventions, which, at first glance, appear to be cost-effective compared to criminal justice processes.

However, when viewed critically, meaningful interventions can also lead to an increased police workload. In the absence of the pilot study, the police are typically less inclined to follow-up on reports of neighbour conflicts and other minor quarrels unless they escalate. Additionally, not every participant in the pilot felt fully satisfied because their situations remained vulnerable. Some respondents also expressed concerns that the community officers spent too little time on their cases, had uncertainties regarding the economic and legal implications of the meaningful interventions, or, as self-proclaimed victims, criticized the restorative justice premise that victims and offenders should voluntarily engage in an equal dialogue.

One limitation of our pilot study is the sample size of 72 cases, which may not be representative of the full range of cases that police typically encounter for potential meaningful interventions. The cases we studied were only those that happened to occur during the pilot study’s timeframe. Furthermore, we could only gather information from respondents in 38% of the 72 cases. This may introduce a ‘positive bias’ ( Quingley et al. , 2015 ) towards meaningful interventions, as it is conceivable that less enthusiastic or non-cooperative participants in the pilot were more likely to not talk about their experiences.

To go beyond the perceptions of respondents, future research should aim to provide more robust evidence about ‘what works’ in offering meaningful interventions. Consider the use of quantified ‘randomised controlled trials’ ( Knutsson and Tompson, 2017 ) in which two groups of citizens who report a (crime) problem to the police are randomly assigned to receive ‘treatment’ (e.g. the possibility of conflict mediation) or not. Are there clear group differences in terms of conflict resolution and public satisfaction with the police? Up to this point, we have established exploratory theoretical and empirical foundations to further pursue such a line of research.

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Expert Commentary

Community-oriented policing strategies: Meta-analysis of law enforcement practices

2014 study in the Journal of Experimental Criminology measuring the effectiveness of community policing in the United States through a quantitative analysis of prior academic studies.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Martin Maximino, The Journalist's Resource March 11, 2015

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Police forces across the United States have tried a range of new approaches to ensure public safety, from “hot-spots policing” to “order maintenance” strategies. Yet many American remain dissatisfied with law-enforcement authorities’ ability to reduce crime, treat minorities fairly and hold officers accountable for their actions.

Meanwhile, violent events such as the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the subsequent shooting of police officers there in 2015 — as well as recent incidents in Cleveland and Staten Island involving police use of deadly force — serve as evidence that new approaches to police-community relations are sorely needed in many places. The Justice Department’s highly critical report on policing in Ferguson provides a new window into how bias can become pervasively embedded in law enforcement practices at the local level.

Community policing is a strategy that centers on the involvement of citizens in the design, implementation and evaluation of law-enforcement programs. Such strategies are supported by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services , established in 1994 as part of the U.S. Department of Justice. The key components — community partnerships, organizational transformation of the police and problem-solving activities — offer an alternative to traditional and reactive policing strategies. However, just what constitutes “community policing” varies greatly across police departments; and the programs’ outcomes have varied, as research and case studies have suggested. From foot patrols to education programs in school and door-to-door surveys, the degree of implementation and impact of community-oriented policing is uneven across America .

In January 2015, the U.S. Conference of Mayors issued a report with new recommendations for improving community-police relations, in the wake of recent controversies involving the use of deadly force by police.

A 2014 study published in the Journal of Experimental Criminology , “Community-Oriented Policing to Reduce Crime, Disorder and Fear and Increase Satisfaction and Legitimacy among Citizens: A Systematic Review,” measures the effectiveness of community policing in the United States through a quantitative analysis of prior academic studies. The researchers, based at George Mason University, Arizona State University, Hebrew University and the University of South Wales, sought to better understand the effects of community-oriented policing on crime, disorder, fear, and citizen satisfaction with and trust in the police.

The authors analyzed 25 different studies containing 65 independent assessments before and after the introduction of a range of community-oriented policing strategies. The findings include:

• Overall, community-policing strategies have a positive effect on citizen satisfaction and trust in the police, as well as in the reduction of individuals’ perception of disorderly conduct, including drug dealing. However, no statistically significant effect was found on reported crime or fear of crime.
• In 27 of the 65 comparisons where official crime outcomes were analyzed, community-oriented policing was associated with 5% to 10% greater odds of reduced crime. This finding was not statistically significant, however.
• In 16 of the 65 comparisons, community-oriented policing was associated with a 24% increase in the odds of citizens perceiving improvements in disorderly conduct. While this effect was not statistically significant, the odds increased to 35% and became statistically significant when one study with a small number of observations was removed from the analysis.
• Citizen satisfaction with the police was evaluated in 23 comparisons, and community-oriented programs were found to be effective in almost 80% of the cases, and citizens were almost 40% more likely to be satisfied with the work of the police. “Citizens reported increased trust and confidence following community-oriented policing interventions and felt that they treated people more fairly,” the authors state. These measures were not statistically significant, however.

The scholars describe their general findings as ambiguous: “Although our analysis suggests that COP is associated with between 5% and 10% greater odds of a decrease in crime, it is plausible under the confidence intervals that COP has no effect on crime. We also find no evidence that community policing decreases citizens’ fear of crime, despite positive outcomes for other citizen perceptions. Finally, our results do not suggest that the presence or absence of a problem-solving approach as part of COP strategies affect the impact on crime.” Ultimately, “these findings may reflect the complex relationship between informal social control, fear, disorder, and crime — disorder fuels fear of crime, which can lead to higher recorded crime rates as informal social controls break down.”

Related research: A 2013 study in Urban Affairs Review , “The Postindustrial City Thesis and Rival Explanations of Heightened Order Maintenance Policing,” examines the relationship between an area’s economy and its policing style. The author, Elaine B. Sharpe of the University of Kansas, looks at 180 cities with a population of 100,000 or more; she analyzes arrest rates and charges, governing institutions, policing demands and constraints, and variables representing the “racial threat” thesis — that the increased presence of minorities can trigger intolerance and greater attempts at social control.

Keywords: crime, police, law enforcement, community policing

About The Author

Martin Maximino

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NCJRS Virtual Library

Community policing and problem solving: strategies and practices, third edition, additional details.

1 Lake Street , Upper Saddle River , NJ 07458 , United States

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Mark H. Moore

Professor of strategic management, search by title, keyword, year, topic, co-author, or type:, problem solving and community policing, publication status, type of document.