The transition to community policing: the department’s role in upgrading officers’ skills

Abstract

Suggests that policing is changing to a more responsive, community oriented approach which requires a change in the skills and knowledge of line officers. Departments need to develop long range plans for ensuring that police officers are prepared to meet the challenges of working with the community and solving problems. Continuing education and college courses provide a framework for bringing about change within the department. Presents an exploratory study which examines a random sample of Minnesota officers’ perceptions of the role of their agencies in upgrading officers’ skills and knowledge for the transition to community‐oriented policing. Results indicate that the majority of the continuing education completed by officers had little to do with developing skills associated with community‐oriented policing. Furthermore, officers contended that agencies were not generally supportive of their continuing college educations. Officers’ perceptions varied by the type of agency they belonged to, the size of the agency, their rank and their educational level.

Citation

Breci, M.G. (1997), "The transition to community policing: the department’s role in upgrading officers’ skills", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 766-776. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639519710194803