Community policing is founded on the principle that in a democratic society the police are entrusted by their fellow citizens to protect and serve the public's fundamental rights to liberty, equality and justice under the law. To fulfil that privileged role the police must be a part of, and not apart from, the communities they serve.
However, there is a wealth of evidence to confirm that the reactive and exclusively law-enforcement based traditional approach to policing, is often divisive and not very effective in preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. Often the police image suffers, public confidence declines, and citizens withdraw their voluntary support and cooperation.
While local models will vary according to the differing needs of different communities, they should share and retain the same sets of key principles and core values that policing:
- Is visible and accessible
- Involves multi-agency collaboration with communities
- Is essentially proactive and accountable
- Is about providing quality of service
There is no universal definition of community policing. Its characteristics vary considerably between countries and the concept is continually evolving. Supporters maintain that it promotes accountability to local citizens, improves service delivery and combines the resources of the police, local government and local residents to ensure more effective crime reduction and public safety. Therefore, any country wishing to develop its policing needs to carefully consider its approach to community policing.
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