Handbook on Planning for Community Policing on Air Force Installations

Community Policing has become the law enforcement catch phrase of the 1990's (Trojanowicz, 1994). Every politician knows it and uses it, as shown by the 1994 Crime Bill which had specific provisions for hiring a large number of "community officers" (U.S. Department of Justice, 1994). This new method of policing does, indeed, have potential, but it has also caused a lot of controversy, as shown by an unofficial poll of police officers on America On-line. Of the officers who responded to the question of "How do you feel about community policing," many felt that community policing was rhetoric and dangerously focused police efforts away from "real crime" (DAVE2470, 1994). As with many new concepts, community policing has been plagued with people talking about it and implementing it without really knowing what community policing is. An example that most Air Force Security Police have encountered is the bicycle patrol. The bike patrol has often been the only Air Force response to community policing, but does having a bike patrol mean that the unit has a community policing program? The same question faces many police departments across the country today: what does community policing mean and what is it supposed to do for you?