Abid Jan
Police in North America have a well-documented history, which helps us understand how their role transformed in protecting the safety and security of our communities.
Law enforcement has evolved significantly since 1829 when Sir Robert Peel issued his general instructions to every new police officer.
Sir Robert Peel’s nine Policing Principles are foundational. He used the term “public” ten times. In today’s language, “public” refers to the “community,” highlighting the critical relationship between the police and the community they serve.
It means policing as a whole was always intended to be community-oriented, focused on using crime prevention strategies and the necessity of a positive relationship between the police and the community. Robert Peel underscored that the police are merely paying full attention to what is everyone’s shared responsibility.
The term “community policing” came into use in the late 20th century[1] when police moved towards reactive strategies, focusing more on incident response rather than proactive, crime prevention.[2] In response to these problems and losing community trust, many police departments in the United States began experimenting with what would become known as “community policing” in the 1980s.[3]
The focus then was to influence policing styles, focusing on how officers interacted with and worked alongside the community.
Research shows that these efforts in the name of community policing often resulted in creating two separate silos within the agencies: traditional policing on one side and community policing on the other.
“These services failed to recognize that building trust and partnerships with social service agencies could not only prevent crime and social disorder but also strengthen traditional enforcement with better intelligence, investigations, arrests, and prosecutions.”[4]
This siloed approach led to a dysfunctional distinction between “real policing” and “soft policing.”
It wasn’t until the first two decades of the 21st century that researchers, criminologists, and policing leaders extensively clarified that community policing is not about being soft on crime. It’s not a cure-all solution, a specialized unit, or merely a program, activity, or designated officer. It’s not just neighbourhood barbecues, a public relations strategy, or simply about police explaining their actions to the community.
Researchers and policing experts have concluded that the term “community policing” wasn’t meant to imply something separate from policing.
Rather, the inclusion of “community” was intended to highlight what policing should have always been.
Fortunately, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police took a significant step in 2010 by introducing the Ontario Mobilization and Engagement Model (OMEM). This marked the first organized approach to integrating community policing with an emphasis on “community safety and security.”
This model has since evolved into the Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Framework, which focuses on “well-being through collaboration with other agencies and communities.” This is a real transformation in policing, which means finding ways to actualize Robert Peel’s principles and focus on the public are the police and the police are the public.
This rapid evolution in the 21st century occurred as police agencies realized that most of their time and effort was not spent doing law enforcement but rather addressing social disorder and solving problems.
The gradual transformation in policing happened in the last ten years with this realization that besides law enforcement, a police agency has to collaborate with community and social service agencies – “sharing information, access, power and authority, resources, and efforts to reduce risk factors that may lead to crime or social disorder, long before those risk factors turn into harmful offences.”
The introduction of the Community Safety and Well-being Framework is facilitating this transformation. Police agencies have learned that applying the CSWB Framework helps them integrate the community in every aspect of the organization rather than attending community events or seeking public input into police decisions.
The holistic and transformative policing model, based on the CSWB Framework, requires practical actions, specialized police practices, and partnerships across four levels of intervention—from prevention to social development. In this model incident response is just one part of the equation.
Today, transformative community safety is a blend of traditional law enforcement tactics and community problem-solving and risk-oriented approaches. The transformative community safety is built on equitable partnerships between police agencies, other organizations, businesses, and community members.
It means for a police service to be relevant beyond law enforcement in the fast-changing world, it has to be about initiating, motivating, mobilizing, engaging, supporting, and facilitating the efforts of the many community members and organizations that play a key role in the spheres of risk-mitigation, prevention and social development.
Similarly, all other actors in the community safety and well-being web need to be mindful of their role as conveners for mobilizing community action to address the social determinants of health, which mitigates risks and prevents crime and social disorder.
The closer the alignment to the CSWB Framework, the stronger the collaboration between all the actors in this web, and their deeper impact on the community’s safety and well-being.
References:
[1] Karpiak, Kevin G., “Community Policing” in Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics, SAGE Publications, ISBN 1-4833-8979-0, 2014
[2] Gau, Jacinta M. (2010), “Wilson, James Q., and George L. Kelling: Broken Windows Theory”,Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory, SAGE Publications, Inc.,
[3] Travis, Lawrence F.; Langworthy, Robert H. (2008). Policing in America: a balance of forces (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-158022-0. OCLC 77522755
[4] Russell, H., & Giva, S (2023). “Transforming Community Policing, Mobilization, Engagement and Collaboration.”
Additional Recommended Readings:
Challenges with Siloed Approaches to Policing and Community Engagement:
- Rosenbaum, D. P. (1994). “The Challenge of Community Policing: Testing the Promises.” SAGE Publications.This book critically examines the challenges associated with implementing community policing, including the “siloed” nature of traditional and community policing practices within police agencies.
- Kelling, G. L., & Coles, C. M. (1997). Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities. Simon and Schuster. This book discusses the development of the “Broken Windows” theory and its relation to the siloed distinction between reactive and proactive policing strategies.
Transformation to Integrated Policing Models and Community Safety Frameworks:
- Russell, H., & Taylor, N. (2014). New Directions in Community Safety: Consolidating Lessons Learned about Risk and Collaboration.Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. This document outlines the development and implementation of the Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Framework in Ontario and its emphasis on integrated approaches to community safety.
- Public Safety Canada. (2018). Community Safety and Well-Being Planning Framework: A Shared Commitment in Ontario. This government document provides an overview of the CSWB Framework and its focus on collaboration between police services and community partners to address the social determinants of health.
Integration of Social Determinants of Health in Policing and Community Safety:
- Marmot, M., & Wilkinson, R. G. (2006). Social Determinants of Health.Oxford University Press. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the social determinants of health and their relevance to policing and community safety.
- Russell, H., & Giva, S. (2023). “Transforming Community Policing, Mobilization, Engagement and Collaboration.” This article or book (if more details are available) would further explore the contemporary integration of community policing with social service agencies and the emphasis on holistic, community-centered approaches.
Recent Research on Collaborative Policing and Social Services:
- Lum, C., & Koper, C. S. (2017). “Evidence-Based Policing: Translating Research into Practice.” Oxford University Press. This book discusses the need for evidence-based approaches in modern policing and the importance of integrating social service collaboration into policing practices.