U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Police Community Involvement - A Planned Approach to Effective Crime Prevention (From Community Policing - Proceedings, P 53-78, 1984, James Morgan ed. - See NCJ-97274)

NCJ Number
97277
Author(s)
D Smith
Date Published
1984
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article chronicles the ongoing escalation of crime and disorder in Australia and examines efforts to counter this through police-community cooperation in crime prevention.
Abstract
Reactive policing is described, and its insufficient focus on minimizing causative factors in crime is noted. Proactive policing is defined as a planned course of action to prevent crime. Results of surveys to ascertain police and community attitudes toward the police role are reported. Attention focuses on the extent, cost, and fear of crime in the State of Victoria, and agencies' efforts to develop a balanced proactive/reactive model of policing or to retain a specialist approach to community involvement are described. Options available for formalizing police/community involvement are considered, with a focus on specialist and generalist responsibilities. Additionally, organizational goals and philosophies are described, and the types of data that police decisionmakers rely on are identified, and suggestions for extending the data base are offered. Finally, the Victoria Police Force is described, and its Police/Community Involvement Program, which includes a neighborhood watch program, is analyzed. The need for police managers to develop alternative methods for controlling crime is highlighted.