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Matter of Approach - The Beat Patrol Officer Places the Police at the Cross-Roads

NCJ Number
86939
Journal
Police Science Abstracts Volume: 10 Issue: 5 Dated: (September/October 1982) Pages: 1-4
Author(s)
J Bastianen; J Vriesema
Date Published
1982
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the work of the Dutch beat patrol officer (BPO), who works alone on foot or bicycle in a particular neighborhood, recommends that the policing style of the BPO be adopted as the fundamental policy of departmental policing.
Abstract
The BPO in the Netherlands is charged with general patrol duties in a particular area over a considerable period of time. His working on foot or a bicycle rather than in a car makes him more accessible to residents of the area, and his daily interaction with them gives him an appreciation of the particular circumstances underlying individual and communal behavior. After a period of time, the BPO generally develops the view that a rigid application of the law and its sanctions to citizen behavior frequently fails to deal adequately with the underlying causes of deviant behavior and threats to public order. The BPO tends to develop an informal style for dealing with citizen problems in his jurisdiction that is responsive to the personalities and particular circumstances of the individuals involved. The BPO's close relationships with the neighborhood and citizens with whom he works often alienates him from other departmental divisions and the general peer culture which may hold to a more formal and less situational style of policing. There is need for increased departmental support of the BPO policing style, which can be achieved through improved communication between BPO's and police administrators. This communication should not only involve departmental policy input for the BPO's but input from the BPO's to departmental policy. There are indications that policing in general would be more effective if it would be based in an analysis of the situational factors in a community contributing to deviancy and disorder, such that causal problems could be addressed and long-term solutions devised.

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