SAGE Journal Articles

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Article 1: Glaser, M.A., & Denhardt, J. (2010). Community policing and community building: A case study of officer perceptions. The American Review of Public Administration, 40(3), 309–325. doi: 10.1177/0275074009340050

Summary: This research uses the responses from more than 500 officers serving a Midwestern city to understand their perceptions of themselves, fellow officers, the police department, neighborhood organizations, and the larger community in relation to community policing. Based on these data, the authors explore how community policing might be used to create a greater convergence of purpose among citizens, neighborhoods, organizations, and the broader well-being of the community. Findings indicate that officers doubt the ability of citizens to rise above their own self-interest, but they think that they and their fellow officers can do so. Furthermore, findings suggest the need for an overarching community agenda to prevent neighborhoods from becoming “civic cocoons” and to promote convergence of purpose between neighborhoods and the broader community. Finally, this research suggests that police departments that engage in transparent decision-making that carefully balances departmental and community interests are better able to encourage this collaboration.

Questions to Consider:

  1. What is “coproduction?” How does it relate to community policing?
     
  2. Did the officers in this study feel that they could rise above “self-interest” to better the community? Did they feel that the citizens could rise above “self-interest” to better the community?
     
  3. What do the study authors suggest is the importance of balancing the organization interests and community interests?

 

Article 2: Maguire, E. R., Uchida, C. D., & Hassell, K. D. (2015). Problem-oriented policing in Colorado Springs: A content analysis of 753 cases. Crime & Delinquency, 61(1), 71–95. doi: 10.1177/0011128710386201

Summary: Problem-oriented policing (POP) has generated substantial attention from practitioners, scholars, and policy makers. A growing body of research is beginning to cast doubt on the extent to which this reform has been implemented in police agencies as prescribed by reformers. This study presents findings from an analysis of POP in the Colorado Springs Police Department, one of the national leaders of POP in the United States. The principal form of evidence is a systematic content analysis of case summaries and reports completed by police officers in 753 POP cases in Colorado Springs. The results point to a set of common roadblocks in the implementation of POP, as well as more general patterns that seem to influence the implementation of police reform.

Questions to Consider:

  1. Why did the Colorado Springs Police Department decide to implement problem-oriented policing (POP) in 1992? How did they begin to utilize the practice of POP?
     
  2. What was the most common problem-oriented policing case problem type? What was the average length of time it took to close a problem-oriented policing case?
     
  3. What did the authors learn about the implementation of problem-oriented policing in Colorado Springs Police Department? Did their findings differ from previous studies of the same topic?