In the target community (an urban community in the southeastern United States), there was some consensus about social problems and their solutions. However, the consensus may not be community-wide, but may exist only among a relatively small group of “active” stakeholders who differ significantly about the seriousness of most of the problems and the utility of some solutions. The stakeholders in this study were community residents, business owners, and leaders; law enforcement personnel who work in the community; and area prostitutes. Community consensus on problems and solutions is one of the key assumptions of community policing. However, this article claims that, even if a consensus were achieved, community policing may still prove ineffective in reducing social problems because it does little to address fundamental problems of poverty, racism, illiteracy, and family disruption. Tables, notes, references