Book Review: Beyond community policing: From early American beginnings to the 21st century

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016813511324
• Date: 01 March 2014
• Author: Francis D. Boateng
• Published date: 01 March 2014
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Criminal Justice Review
2014, Vol. 39(1) 101-111
Book Reviews
ª 2013 Georgia State University
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Chriss, J. J. (2013).
Beyond community policing: From early American beginnings to the 21st century. Boulder, CO: Paradigm. v, 248
pp. $36.95. ISBN: 9781594518478
Reviewed by: Francis D. Boateng, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0734016813511324
Community policing is an organizational strategy that redefines the goals of policing, but leaves the
means of achieving them to practitioners in the field. It also involves a commitment to helping
neighborhoods solve crime problems on their own through organizations and crime prevention pro-
grams. Community policing includes the following policing tactics: establishment of mini stations,
conducting surveys to measure community satisfaction, organizing meetings and crime prevention
seminars, publishing newsletters, forming neighborhood watch groups, establishing advisory panels,
organizing youth activities, conducting drug education projects, patrolling on horses, on bicycles,
and on foot, and working with other agencies. Community policing relies on organizational decen-
tralization and reorientation of patrol to foster good communication with the public. Indeed, specific
community policing activities may vary from department to department, there is a general agree-
ment among police scholars that there are certain elements of community policing which are com-
mon to all the departments. These are the four dimensions of community policing which are widely
discussed, namely, philosophical, strategic, tactic, and organizational dimensions. Each of these
dimensions has a set of elements which police organizations are required to implement.
Beyond Community Policing: From early American Beginnings to the 21st Century by James J.
Chriss presents an easy to read text that captures the nuances of American Policing pre- and post-
community...