Police Methods for Identifying Community Problems

The results of a recent national survey of criminal justice agencies shows a tremendous interest among police chiefs in community and problem-oriented policing. Eighty percent of chiefs report needing technical assistance or research on the subject, and 69 percent are inter-Technical distinctions can be made between community policing (also known as neighborhood policing) and problem-oriented policing, and police managers often ask about the differences between the two., 6o th approaches recognize a need to draw the community and the po-lice closer together, and they have several common elements: consul-tations between police and residents, development of strategies to fi t neighborhood needs, and mobilization of community resources (Bayley, 1991). But problem-oriented policing as conceptualized by Herman Goldstein encourages (among other things) a higher level of community problem identification and analysis (Goldstein, 1990a). It represents a "fine-tuning approach " found in "the most advanced com-Lrnunity-oriented policing programs " (Goldstein, 1990b). The opera