Assessing the Relationship Between Police-Community Coproduction and Neighborhood-Level Social Capital

• Author: Jason D. Scott
• DOI: 10.1177/1043986202018002003
• Published date: 01 May 2002
• Date: 01 May 2002
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / May 2002Scott / POLICE-COMMUNITY COPRODUCTION

Assessing the Relationship Between

Police-Community Coproduction and

Neighborhood-Level Social Capital

JASON D. SCOTT

University at Albany

Some have argued that community policing represents a reform that is capable of increasing

neighborhood social capital. Collaborative relationships between police and communities are

expected to enhance the capacity of residents to collectively ameliorate neighborhood condi-

tions. This study examines the relationship between police-community coproduction and

neighborhood-level social capital using data from a survey of neighborhood leaders. Results

provide partial support for the claim that community policing is related to social capital. More

specifically,collective social capacity was shown to be higher in neighborhoods where residents

perceive the police to be more accessible. Future considerations for the study of community

policing and social capital are discussed.

Withinthe past two decades, there has been a renewed interest in the role

of communities in public safety and crime control. The early work of

the Chicago school (Shaw & McKay, 1942) and subsequent reformulations

of social disorganization theory (Bursik & Grasmik, 1993; Sampson &

Groves, 1989) have demonstrated the relationship between social structure,

crime, and disorder. Theory and research in the fields of sociology, commu-

nity psychology, and political science have emphasized the importance of

social capital in promoting positive outcomes for urban neighborhoods. For

147

This research is based on data collected from the Police-Community Interaction Project,

directed by David E. Duffee, Steve Chermak, and Edmund F. McGarell. The project was sup-

portedby Grant No. 97-IJ-CX-0052 awarded from the National Institute of Justice, Office of Jus-

tice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the

author and do not necessarily represent the officialposition or policies of the U.S. Department of

Justice. Special thanks go to David Duffee and Brian Renauer for their helpful comments on an

earlier draft of this article.

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice,Vol. 18 No. 2, May 2002 147-166

© 2002 Sage Publications

example, Sampson and his colleagues have found that neighborhood-level

collective efficacymediates the relationship between structural disadvantage

and rates of violence (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997). In addition,

research in the field of community psychology has demonstrated a positive

relationship between resident participation in block organizations, sense of

community, and neighboring behavior (Perkins, Florin, Rich, Wandersman,

& Chavis, 1990; Unger & Wandersman,1983). In general, this research sug-

gests that positive neighborhood outcomes can be linkedto a variety of social

processes that define these neighborhoods. Neighborhoods characterized by

high levels of cohesion, trust, and positive social interaction possess more

potential to address the problems of crime and disorder and appear to contain

more potential for promoting other positive outcomes.

More recently, building on this research, scholars have begun to examine

the relationship between formal criminal justice intervention and community-

level outcome variables (Correia, 2000; Kerley & Benson, 2000; Lynch,

Sabol, & Planty, 1999; Rose & Clear,1998; Skogan & Hartnett, 1997). This

is an important area of inquiry because we know little about the potential

these interventions have to build or sustain community capacity. In addition,

this research may reveal the extent to which the criminal justice system can

indirectly influence crime and disorder through its effect on social capital.1

One of the more popular avenues used to explore these relationships is

research on police and communities. These relationships are especially

important to those advocates of community policing who argue that this

reform is capable of producing strong and more viable communities. Kerley

and Benson (2000) have examined the effect of door-to-door community

police contacts and the presence of police substations on community cohe-

sion, informal organization, and cooperative security. In addition, Correia

(2000) has examined the relationship between a varietyof constructs measur-

ing the social organization and capacity of communities and the organiza-

tional implementation of community policing. In general, however,there has

been little research examining the relationship between community policing

and neighborhood social capital (Kurki, 2000; Pino, 2001). In addition, the

research that does exist has struggled to find a consistent relationship

between various forms of policing and the social processes that define neigh-

borhoods. This article attempts to build on this body of literature by exploring

the relationship between specific elements of police-community coproduction

and neighborhood-level social capital.2

LIMITATIONS OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Although it is clear that the inquiry into the relationship between commu-

nity policing and neighborhood social capital is underway,it is also apparent

148 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / May 2002