Aquiring a Taste for Order: The Community and Police

Abstract

Police order maintenance activities are important but controversial. They are controversial because there is no clear and consistent definition of what constitutes disorder and because the justification for police intervention in disorderly situations in uncertain. Some behavior that creates disorder is illegal and the basis for intervention is clear: the law. Other behavior that creates disorder is not illegal; instead, it violates community or neighborhood expectations of what constitutes appropriate civil behavior. Under such circumstances a primary basis for police intervention is the political will of the community.

Reporting behavior of fraud victims and black's theory of law: An empirical assessment

“…This finding agrees with the recent findings ofAvakame et al (1999), that those in the higher strata are not more likely to invoke law than those in the lower strata. Similarly, in the policing literature, much of the research on calls for service finds that persons in the lower classes are significantly more likely to call police in both emergency and nonemergency situations than those in the higher classes (see, for example, Kelling 1987). The explanation is that those in the lower classes may call police and invoke law more often because they lack the wherewithal to handle legal situations informally.…”

The conceptual ambiguity of community in community policing – Filtering the muddy waters

“…This police innovation is based on the philosophical foundation of communitarian thought [1], and the implications associatedwiththisfoundationalshiftarebroad.Forexample,thecoredemocratic principles of equity, effectiveness, accountability, and efficiency can no longer be fully satisfied by the conventional norms of police professionalism and the expansion of legal rights to individuals under the Constitution. Under the community policing model, these principles are derived more from the values and habitual practices within the context of community (Bayley, 1988;Kelling, 1987). Suchredefinitionrepresentsonlyoneofthemanychallengesfacingthecommunity policing movement.…”

Broken Windows or Window Breakers: The Influence of Physical and Social Disorder on Quality of Life

“…Fourth, in terms of policing implications, quality of life policing (Kelling, 1987) is possibly the inappropriate label given to these law enforcement techniques. This is important because members of the public might have expectations that the policing practices will change their quality of life.…”