This new policing philosophy has its origins in past attempts to decentralize police agencies and make them more democratic to improve police and community communication and make police agencies more responsive to the community and to lower-level police officers. Current efforts to make the police more problem-focused have also contributed to the interest in community policing. The arguments for community policing build on a new theoretical rationale that focuses on the role of foot patrols in maintaining community order and that has been most clearly expressed by Wilson and Kelling. They argue that foot patrols can enforce informal local norms regarding acceptable public behavior, thereby reducing fear of crime and crime by outsiders. However, studies to date of community policing programs have yielded inconsistent results and do not provide adequate tests of the proposed theoretical rationale for this policing innovation. Thus, both theory and research need improvement. Descriptions of specific programs and evaluations and 17 notes.