The Importance of Place in Policing - Empirical Evidence and Policy ...

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X. Recognizing theImportance of PoliceLegitimacy in PolicingPlacesBasic and applied research supports the potential and actual crimeprevention opportunities of place-based policing. Place-based policingmoreover offers opportunities for police to carry out crime preventionwith fewer legal constraints. However, the effectiveness ofpolicing is also dependent on public perceptions of the legitimacy ofpolice actions (NRC, 2004; Tyler, 1990, 2004). Even if the policecan lower crime, if they alienate the community in carrying out theirefforts it is difficult to identify place-based policing as successful.There is a noteworthy lack of research assessing the effects ofplace-based policing on police-community relations. This gap inknowledge is significant for hot spots policing initiatives as manyobservers suggest a tension between the crime prevention effectivenessof focused police efforts and their potential harmful effects onpolice-community relations (Meares, 2006; Rosenbaum, 2006; Taylor,2006; Weisburd & Braga, 2006b). If the public’s trust and confidencein the police is undermined, the ability of the police to preventcrime will be weakened by lawsuits, declining willingness toobey the law, and withdrawal from existing partnerships (Tyler,1990, 2004). The political fallout from illegitimate police actionscan seriously impede the ability of police departments to engage ininnovative crime control tactics.There is some evidence that residents of areas that are subject tofocused police attention welcome the concentration of police effortsin problem places (McGarrell, Chermak, Weiss, & Wilson, 2001;Shaw, 1995). A separate examination of the Kansas City Gun Pro-49
ject (Sherman & Rogan, 1995b) found that the community stronglysupported the intensive patrols and perceived an improvement in thequality of life in the treatment neighborhood (Shaw, 1995). Thestudy did not, however, attempt to measure how the individualswho were stopped and searched by the police felt about the program.Dennis Rosenbaum (2006) suggests that hot spots policing, becauseit has often been operationally defined as aggressive enforcementin specific areas, runs the risk of weakening police-communityrelations. Rosenbaum (2006) argues that hot spots policing can easilybecome “zero tolerance” policing because this approach is easyfor the police to adopt. Indiscriminate aggressive tactics can drive awedge between the police and communities, as the latter can beginto feel like targets rather than partners:Because the police have chosen to focus on removing the “badelement” and serving as the “thin blue line” between “good” and“bad” residents, these strategies can pit one segment of the communityagainst another, as the “good” residents are asked toserve as the informants and the “eyes and ears” of the police.Parents, siblings, and friends of gang members can feel a dividedloyalty and be caught in the crossfire (Rosenbaum, 2006:253).Rosenbaum (2006) also raises the question of whether sustainedenforcement efforts in minority communities will contribute to disproportionateminority confinement. Regardless of the specific approachemployed or tactics engaged, hot spots policing will generatean increased amount of police-citizen contacts in very small areas.Police behavior in these areas will greatly influence the amount ofsupport and involvement from community members residing incrime hot spot areas. To maximize their ability to manage crimeproblems in these places, police managers should strive to ensure fairpolice-citizen interactions and the development of strong partnershipswith community members, an approach used successfully inpulling-levers policing (Braga & Winship, 2006; Kennedy, 2006).While the work is difficult, long-term community engagement effortscan pay large dividends in improving the quality of policecommunityrelationships and collaborative crime prevention efforts.The concentration of crime at specific hot spot locations withinneighborhoods provides an important opportunity for police tomake connections with community members who are most vulnerableto victimization and experience fear and diminished quality oflife as a result of ongoing and intense crime and disorder problems.Regrettably, these community members are often the same peoplewho view the police with suspicion and question the legitimacy ofpolice efforts to control crime in their neighborhoods. In this sense,50
Page 2 and 3: The Importance of Place inPolicingE
Page 4: ContentsForeword ..................
Page 7 and 8: eport note for example that this ne
Page 9 and 10: 8licing. By place, we do not mean l
Page 12 and 13: II. The Emergence of CrimePlaces in
Page 14 and 15: For many scholars and policymakers,
Page 16 and 17: III. The Concentration ofCrime at P
Page 18 and 19: viduals. Using his Minneapolis data
Page 20 and 21: more, Maryland using a panel design
Page 22 and 23: Figure 3: Trajectories of Individua
Page 24 and 25: V. The Importance of Place-Based Ra
Page 26 and 27: Figure 5: Kernel Density Estimation
Page 28 and 29: Perhaps the most comprehensive geog
Page 30 and 31: masked if we focused our interest o
Page 32 and 33: such places. For example, several r
Page 34 and 35: Sampson et al., 1997; Sampson, 2004
Page 36 and 37: Table 3: Relationship Between Numbe
Page 38 and 39: sas City Crack House Raids Experime
Page 40 and 41: The Campbell review reported notewo
Page 42 and 43: VIII. Does Crime Just MoveAround th
Page 44 and 45: prevention effect. The Campbell sys
Page 46 and 47: know. This way, if I need help, I k
Page 48 and 49: IX. Reducing LegalConstraints while
Page 52 and 53: esidents and business owners in hig
Page 54 and 55: demands a fundamental change in the
Page 56 and 57: concern of police to improving plac
Page 58 and 59: ReferencesAgnew R., & Peterson D. M
Page 60 and 61: Bushway, S. D., Thornberry, T. P.,
Page 62 and 63: Estricht, S., Moore, M. H., McGilli
Page 64 and 65: Mastrofski, S. M., Weisburd, D., &
Page 66 and 67: Sherman, L. W. (1990). Police crack
Page 68 and 69: Evaluating public policy initiative

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