The Understanding and Practice of Community Policing

Division between the police and the communities they serve is growing at an alarming rate. Cities throughout this country are calling to defund the police and police officers are cast as villains even when their actions are warranted. The Community Policing philosophy was developed in an effort to bridge the gap between these two entities and create an atmosphere of mutual trust but the philosophy has had little impact. This exploratory study was designed to find relationships between an officer’s rank and their level of agreement toward this philosophy. Additionally, this study looked for relationships regarding the organizational size and the level of agreement with both the practice and concepts of Community Policing. Last, this study looked for relationships involving the officer’s level of agreement with Community Policing and their engagement in Community Policing activities. For this study, 234 certified Kentucky law enforcement officers were provided a 22 item survey. The results of this study provided statistical evidence that three of the four objectives merit further examination. Evidence suggests that a relationship exists between an officer’s rank and their agreement with Community Policing practices. In fact, 30.8 percent indicated making arrests are the best way to solve problems. While this study is not suggesting enforcement of criminal codes is not necessary, making an arrest is not always the best or preferred option. Additionally, 25.6 percent indicated they want to be left alone to do their job but as the officer’s rank increased this belief decreased. Leaders of organizations understand the positive impact this philosophy can have on their community, but this understanding must be filtered down to the line officers. Police officers perform heroically on a daily basis, but law enforcement and the community must come together to bridge this gap.