in
Kosovo


What is Community Policing?
Community policing is a concept of police officers and private citizens working together in creative ways to solve community problems related to crime, fear of crime, social and physical disorder and neighborhood decay. Community policing is based on the belief that achieving these goals requires a relationship between the police department and the law-abiding people in the community. This relationship allows the community a greater voice in setting police priorities and involves everyone in efforts to improve the overall quality of life in neighborhoods. It shifts the focus of police work from handling random calls to proactively working to resolve community problems.

When fully implemented, community policing respects input from everyone in the community and will involve six entities: the general community, elected civic officials, the business community, other agencies, the media and all members of the police department. Each entity has a responsibility to participate in establishing and maintaining the safety and livability of the community.

Community policing must be expressed in an organizational strategy that allows police officers to maintain frequent, direct, face-to-face contact with people in a defined geographic area. The community policing-officer is a generalist whose mission includes working in cooperation with the community to develop imaginative ways to address the broad spectrum of community concerns. Officers should have ownership in their policing areas so they can develop and maintain a relationship based on trust, which encourages people to become involved in efforts to address problems in their neighborhoods. The officer acts as the police department's outreach to a particular area of the community, serving as the people's link to other public and private agencies that can also help. This partnership allows people direct input in setting local police priorities, and provides police with valuable information and resources to assist them in addressing crime and livability in the community.

In summary, a community policing organization:
Has adopted the community policing philosophy throughout the organization as the way they perform their work;
Is committed to proactively work with the community to resolve crime and livability issues;
Involves the community, elected officials, business community, other agencies and the media;
Focuses on problems of public concern in particular neighborhoods or areas;
Groups similar incidents together to be addressed as a common problem;
Encourages a broad and uninhibited search for solutions.