U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Police Officer's Guide: The Definitive "How To" Handbook of Community Based Police

NCJ Number
159219
Author(s)
C E Pratt
Date Published
1995
Length
125 pages
Annotation
Based on the author's experience as a police officer and police chief, this manual is intended to answer the questions most commonly asked about community policing techniques and to enable agencies to establish and operate a successful community policing program.
Abstract
Directed to individual police officers as well as police agencies, manual was designed to be portable and easy to use while in a police vehicle or other location. The text emphasizes that community policing is neither a new idea nor a solution to all the problems facing police today. Instead, it is activity in which police and their clients actively cooperate to attain a stated goal; all efforts at planning and operating a cooperative program must revolve around a common interest or common concern among those involved. It relies on both common sense and citizen cooperation. Planning, designing, and operating any community policing operation involves five basic steps: (1) problem identification, (2) organization/planning, (3) personnel selection, (4) community preparation, and (5) operational evaluation and modification. The manual provides instructions for each step, together with practical suggestions on the use of technology, training, discretion, and other approaches and descriptions of specific strategies.