URBAN AFFAIRS REVIEW / November 2000Bass / URBAN POLICING NEGOTIATING CHANGE Community Organizations and the Politics of Policing

Several scholars have found that external pressure is often the impetus for police reform. To date, community organizations as a part of this external pressure have not been addressed. The author examines the role of community organizations in policing politics and their ability to affect change on three critical policing policy issues (civilian oversight, community policing, and pub-lic order) in two cities (Seattle, Washington, and Oakland, California). Based on interviews, archival research, and extensive participant observation, the author found that community pres-sure and activism were critical for getting the issue of policing practices and policies on the city’s agenda, but few community organizations were able to effectively participate in the policy response process. Community organizing and activism directed towards changing policing practices or policies are central features in urban politics. However, our understanding of these organizations and their ability to influence political leaders and shape policy responses is virtually nonexistent. This study addresses the role of community organizations and their ability to affect change in policing practices or policies in two cities: Seattle, Washington, and Oakland, California. I argue that community organizations are critical for raising consciousness and getting a policing issue to the city’s agenda. However, internal and external factors impede community organizations from fully participating in the policy process. This essay will briefly discuss the importance of policing to urban politics and the role of community orga-nizations in the politics of policing; briefly review the literature on the police and urban politics; and present my findings on the role of community organi-zations in policing policy decisions