Community-Oriented Policing and Problem-Solving

The history of modern policing can be traced to two distinct changes in the thought process of how the law enforcement community functions. It is safe to assume that prior to the 19th century; police work consisted primarily of directives that were based on the theory of maintaining peace and public order within a specific area.

This began to change, when in 1829 in England, British Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel “created” what has since become known as the Nine Principles of Policing. These principles constituted the first major change in the way the police viewed themselves and their role in serving a changing, modern society.

Then, in 1979, Herman Goldstein developed the concept of “Problem Oriented Policing” (POP), which encouraged police to begin thinking differently about their purpose. POP required a move from re-active, incident-driven policing to one that actively addresses the problems that continually drain police resources. His work has been enormously influential, particularly throughout North America.

The purpose of this block of instruction is to instruct future managers in the areas of Community-Oriented Policing and Problem-Solving. This course is designed to assist them in recognizing the opportunities this style of policing offers their police officers to improve their effectiveness in working together with their communities to address issues of crime, safety and liveability.

After this block of instruction the participants will be able to:

1. Define Community Policing as discussed in the classroom.
2. List the ten principles of Community Policing as discussed in the class.
3. Describe the difference between traditional and contemporary policing.
4. State the four steps of the SARA Problem-Solving Model for Community Policing and apply the SARA Model to simulated community problems as taught in the class.
5. Describe the benefits of Problem Oriented Policing.
6. List the key documents addressing Community Safety and Community Policing in Kosovo.