Community policing, or community-oriented policing

Community policing, or community-oriented policing, is a strategy of policing that focuses on building ties and working closely with members of the communities. A formal definition states:

"Community policing is a philosophy of full service personalized policing, where the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis, from a decentralized place, working in a proactive partnership with citizens to identify and solve problems." —Bertus Ferreira

The central goal of community policing is for the police to build relationships with the community through interactions with local agencies and members of the public, creating partnerships and strategies for reducing crime and disorder.

Common methods of community-policing include:

1. Encouraging the community to help prevent crime by providing advice, giving talks at schools, encouraging neighborhood watch groups, and a variety of other techniques.
2. Increased use of foot or cycle patrols.
3. Increased officer accountability to the communities they are supposed to serve.
4. Creating teams of officers to carry out community policing in designated neighborhoods.
5. Clear communication between the police and the communities about their objectives and strategies.
6. Partnerships with other organizations such as government agencies, community members, nonprofit service providers, private businesses and the media.
7. Decentralizing the police authority, allowing more discretion amongst lower-ranking officers, and more initiative expected from them.