Abstract
While over 60% of police agencies in the United States are either implementing or planning for community policing (Annan, 1995), actual implementation of community policing practices is disjointed and has produced more problems than solutions. One such problem is the resistance among officers to the philosophy itself. In a study of the orientations of noncommunity policing officers in the largest public safety department in the US, it is determined that elements of the organizational culture of the police agency are not significant predictors of support for the community policing philosophy. Rather, individual orientations toward citizen involvement in crime prevention and job involvement are predictors of officer support. Implications for police managers are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Angell, J. E. (1971). Toward an alternative to the classic police organizational arrangements: A democratic model.Criminology, 9, 185–206.
Annan, S. O. (1995).National survey of community policing strategies, 1992–1993. Washington, DC: The Police Foundation (distributed by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Ann Arbor, MI).
Bayley, D. H. (1988). Community policing: A report from the devil’s advocate. In J. Greene & S. Mastrofski (Eds.),Community policing: Rhetoric or reality (pp. 225–238). New York: Praeger.
Brown, L. P. (1991). Community policing: Its time has come.The Police Chief, 58, 6.
Brown, L. P. (1992). Community policing: A partnership with promise.The Police Chief, 59, 45–47.
Brown, L. P., & Morgenthau, R. M. (1993). Is community policing the best answer to the nation’s crime problem?CQ Researcher, 3, 113–123.
Burgreen, B., & McPherson, N. (1992). Neighborhood policing without a budget increase.The Police Chief, 59, 31–33.
Carter, D. L. (1995, Spring). Politics and community: Variables of change in the political environment.Public Administration Quarterly, 6–25.
Clairmont, D. (1991). Community-based policing: Implementation and impact.Canadian Journal of Criminology, 33, 469–484.
Dicker, T. J. (1998, May). Heros, wimps and cops: Putting the policing back into community oriented policing. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Society for Public Administration, Seattle, WA.
Goldstein, H. (1976). Toward a redefinition of the police function. In A. Cohen & E. Viano (Eds.),Police, community relations, images, roles, realities (pp. 125–139). Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Goldstein, H. (1987). Toward community-oriented policing: Potential, basic requirements, and threshold questions.Crime and Delinquency, 33, 6–30.
Goldstein, H. (1990).Problem-oriented policing. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Greene, J. R. (1994). Police officer job satisfaction and community perceptions: Implications for community-oriented policing.Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 26, 168–183.
Greene, J. R., & Decker, S. H. (1989). Policy and community perceptions of the community role in policing: The Philadelphia experience.Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 28, 105–123.
Grinc, R. M. (1994). Angels in marble: Problems in stimulating community involvement in community policing.Crime and Delinquency, 40, 437–468.
Guyot, D. (1991).Policing as though people matter. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Hayeslip, D., & Cordner, D. (1987). The effects of community oriented patrol on police officer attitudes.American Journal of Police, 1, 95–119.
Ivancevich, J. M., & Matteson, M. T. (1990).Organizational behavior and management. Homewood, IL: BPI Irwin.
Kotter, J., & Schlesinger, L. (1979). Choosing strategies for change.Harvard Business Review, 102–121.
Lipsky, M. (1980).Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public services. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Lurigio, A. J., & Skogan, W. G. (1994). Winning the hearts and minds of police officers: An assessment of staff perceptions of community policing in Chicago.Crime and Delinquency, 40, 315–330.
Maynard-Moody, S., Musheno, M., & Palumbo, D. (1990). Street-wise social policy: Resolving the dilemma of street-level influence and successful implementation.Western Political Science Quarterly, 43, 831–848.
McElroy, J. E., Cosgrove, C. A., & Sadd, S. (1993).Community policing: The CPOP in New York. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Pepinsky, H. (1989). Issues of citizen involvement in policing.Crime and Delinquency, 35, 458–470.
Rosenbaum, D. P., Yeh, S., & Wilkinson, D. L. (1994). Impact of community policing on police personnel: A quasi-experimental test.Crime and Delinquency, 40, 331–353.
Ross, J. I. (1995). Confronting community policing: Minimizing community policing as public relations. In P. C. Kratcoski & D. Dukes (Eds.),Issues in community policing (pp. 243–259). Cincinnati: Anderson.
Sacks, H. (1978). Notes on police assessment of moral character. In P. K. Manning & J. Van Mannen (Eds.),Policing: A view from the street (pp. 187–201). Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear.
Sadd, S., & Grinc, R. (1994). Innovative neighborhood oriented policing: An evaluation of community policing programs in eight cities. In D. Rosenbaum (Ed.),Community policing: Testing the promises (pp. 27–52). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Sherman, L. W., Milton, C. H., & Kelly, T. V. (1973).Team policing: Seven case studies. Washington, DC: The Police Foundation.
Trojanowicz, R. C. (1990). Community policing is not police-community relations.The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 59, 6–11.
Trojanowicz, R., & Bucqueroux, B. (1990).Community policing: A contemporary perspective. Cincinnati: Anderson.
Trojanowicz, R., & Carter, D. (1988).The philosophy and role of community policing. East Lansing: Michigan State University.
Van Maanen, J. (1978). The asshole. In P. K. Manning & J. Van Maanen (Eds.),Policing: A view from the street (pp. 221–238). Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear.
Van Maanen, J. (1974). Working the street: A developmental view of police behavior. In H. Jacob (Ed.),The potential for reform of criminal justice (pp. 83–130). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Wadman, R. C., & Ziman, S. M. (1993). Courtesy and police authority.The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 62, 23–27.
Wilson, D. G., & Bennett, S. F. (1994). Officers’ response to community policing: Variations on a theme.Crime and Delinquency, 40, 354–370.
Wilson, J. Q. (1983).Thinking about crime. New York: Vintage.
Wilson, J. Q., & Kelling, G. L. (1989, February). Making neighborhoods safe: Sometimes “fixing broken windows” does more to reduce crime than conventional “incidentoriented” policing.The Atlantic Monthly, 46–52.
Wilson, J. Q., & Kelling, G. L. (1982, March). Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety.The Atlantic Monthly, 29–38.
Worden, R. E., & Shepard, R. L. (1996). Demeanor, crime, and police behavior: A reexamination of the police services study data.Criminology, 34, 83–105.
Wycoff, M. A. (1988). The benefits of community policing: Evidence and conjecture. In J. Greene & S. Mastrofski (Eds.),Community policing: Rhetoric or reality (pp. 103–121). New York: Praeger.
Wycoff, M. A., & Skogan, W. G. (1992).Quality policing in Madison: An evaluation of its implementation and impact. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
Yates, D. L., & Pillai, V. K. (1996). Attitudes toward community policing: A causal analysis.Social Science Journal, 33, 193–209.
Zhao, J., & Thurman, Q. C. (1997). Community policing: Where are we now?Crime and Delinquency, 43, 345–358.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dicker, T.J. Tension on the thin blue line: Police officer resistance to community-oriented policing. AJCJ 23, 59–82 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887284
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887284