Police officers are the most visible and the most approachable of all criminal justice practitioners, and a police- citizen partnership is essential to reducing crime. Shaping the partnership in positive ways requires effective police-community relations. Many disciplines are involved, including criminology, law, history, philosophy, psychology, political science, sociology, communication, and economics. The text aims to provide a better understanding of police-community relations. Chapters provide an overview of police-community relations, and discuss public relations and community relations, the police role in a changing society, and coping with the human experience of being a police officer. Chapters also address the communication process, police discretion and community relations, the media link, police relations with the young and the elderly, police-community relations in the context of culture, the dilemmas of dissent and political response, conflict management, community policing, and community control. Case studies in police-community relations are appended. Each chapter includes a student checklist and includes topics for discussion. References and figures