A key question is whether the police should attempt to control crime through aggressive and proactive measures in the community or whether the police should promote the development of functioning institutions in the community that have the net effect of reducing crime. The implementation of three strikes laws is significant because these laws frame the arena in which the police operate. Clearly, a crime control strategy emphasizing the incapacitation of offenders who have committed serious and multiple offenses is based on the idea that the criminal justice system cannot deter or rehabilitate such offenders. The issue then arises as to how the police will fit in with the newly emerging incapacitation strategy. Although the police know crime is disproportionately concentrated in communities that are being destroyed by economic and social forces beyond their control, police agencies do not always adopt the most appropriate crime control strategies. In the context of three strikes legislation, a shift has occurred from offenses to offenders, and community policing has been promoted as a more effective approach to crime control. The effect of three strikes legislation on the police and on the criminal justice system is discussed, and the overall effectiveness of a "get tough" approach is questioned. 49 references and 3 notes