Attention is paid to developments in community-oriented, prevention, and problem-oriented approaches. The role that research has played in the past and should play in the future is discussed. The authors argue that, although community policing is an accepted concept among many police officers, various problems have hindered the development of the approach and, in the main, projects do not meet very high methodological standards. Suggestions are offered for well-designed evaluation studies as well as the development of new research instruments for use by the police. Prevention projects are described as being well structured, theoretically based, and carefully evaluated. They have, however, focused on a narrow range of offenses (e.g., burglary and car theft) and should be extended to other areas of crime. The adoption of a carefully structured and evaluated problem-oriented approach is currently being implemented in many Dutch police regions. Clear goals have been set, and the progress that is being made is described. The paper discusses the role that researchers can play in furthering the adoption of such a structured approach, with emphasis on analytic techniques. 7 notes and 58 references