PolicyLink,
in partnership with the Washington, D.C.-based Advancement Project, a legal,
policy and communications resource center, engaged in a research effort
across a wide spectrum of U.S. cities to gather information about promising
police practices. The research, ranging from literature reviews and site
visits to interviews with community advocates, law enforcement officials,
academics and many others, culminated in the release in May 2001 of a national
report, Community-Centered Policing: A Force
for Change.
The report highlights practices that are opening police departments to underrepresented
communities; engaging communities as partners; and making police departments
more accountable to the communities they serve. Community-Centered
Policing: A Force for Change shows that police departments, in
collaboration with local communities, must implement change on all fronts,
not just a few. It also demonstrates that community involvement across a
range of police functions is realistic and possible to achieve based on
practices already in place across the nation.
PolicyLink widely disseminated the report to community-based organizations,
policymakers, public officials and others seeking to improve community-police
relations and to increase the capacity of local communities to advocate
for positive change in community-police relations.
More ... (Community Centered Policing Tools and Strategies)