Community Policing

Community-based policing is both a philosophy (a way of thinking) and an organisational strategy (a means to carry out that philosophy) that allows the police and community to work together in new ways to solve problems of crime, disorder and safety. It rests on two core elements: changing the methods and practice of the police and taking steps to establish a relationship between the police and the public.

The philosophy is built on the belief that the public deserve, and have a right, to have an input into policing in exchange for their participation and support. It is, therefore, a fundamentally democratic approach to policing. It also rests on the view that solutions to community problems can only be found when the police and the public work together on finding innovative solutions that go beyond a narrow focus on individual crimes or incidents.

The goal is the creation of a professional police service - not linked to particular political or military interests - that works in an accountable partnership with the public. The police need to be visible and accessible and take a proactive and preventive approach to public safety and security while remaining sensitive to societal differences and cleavages. Yet this does not mean that it is 'soft' policing - it still aims to prevent crime and maintain law and order and can do so more efficiently by drawing on communities to provide information and become partners in crime prevention. But implementing community-based policing requires fundamental restructuring of the police organisation so that the public is redefined as the primary clients of policing and public trust and confidence is (re)gained.

Some fundamental principles of community-based policing are:

• Policing by consent, not coercion
• The police as part of the community, not apart from it
• Police and community working together to find out what community needs are
• Police, public and other agencies working together in partnership
• Tailoring the business of policing to meet community needs
• The police being accountable for their business service

Edinburgh International is a market leader in the establishment and development of community-based policing curricula and approaches for use country-wide. It's multi national training teams bring a wealth of global experience in the field of community policing to emerging police forces in forming and developing a participatory partnership between communities and the police.