Book Review: Police leaders in the new community problem-solving era

• Author: Richard C. Helfers
• Published date: 01 December 2015
• Date: 01 December 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016815581879
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Jenkins, M. J., & Decarlo, J. (2015).

Police leaders in the new community problem-solving era. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 198 pp. $27.00,

ISBN 978-1-61163-590-4.

Reviewed by: Richard C. Helfers, The University of Texas, Tyler, TX, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016815581879

Jenkins and DeCarlo provide a contemporary examination illustrating the continued evolution of

policing. This book offers academics, practitioners, and students evidence how police agencies

effectively police communities in the 21st century through enhanced organizational accountability,

improved communication processes, and technological innovations to identify community concerns.

Jenkins and DeCarlo posit policing has progressed beyond the community policing era into a new

realm that has a strategic focus on improving police efficiency and effectiveness. They refer to this

new dimension as the new community problem-solving era which incorporates a flexible framework

that enables police agencies to implement the community problem-solving philosophy according to

the dynamics of the individual agency. The community problem-solving model overcomes the ambi-

guity that has clouded the implementation practices of community policing and is more encompass-

ing than references to the current policing era as intelligence-led or a homeland security era.

The book provides a quick review of the organizational history of policing and describes the rea-

sons change has been essential. Jenkins and DeCarlo provide practical insight through DeCarlo’s

prior experience as a police chief. They acknowledge the successful transition to the community

problem-solving model can be difficult. They also discuss the factors that foster successful organi-

zational change as well as inhibiting factors. The book revolves around examinations of four urban

police departments in the United States (Boston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Newark).

The case study method is used to illustrate the complexity involved with policing. This provides

reader’s in-depth understanding of the dynamics associated with policing with a realization that flex-

ibility is an essential component when a new policing paradigm is introduced. Jenkins and DeCarlo

provide a historical account for each organization that explains the impetus for the transition to the

community problem-solving model and why this philosophy has produced the new policing era. The

data collection measures included interviews, observations, surveys, and agency archival data. This

enabled the authors to triangulate their findings in a qualitative and quantitative format. Even though

the case study method has limitations, the richness of the data can be used to assist academics and

students understand that police organizations are unique and solving community and organizational

problems require creative solutions. Practitioners may also benefit from this book through realizing

that this changing paradigm has shown to be more effective than other policing strategies in select

cities in the United States.

There are limitations to the data collection measures, but this is consistent with police research in

general. Jenkins and DeCarlo describe the difficulty experienced collecting data from line personnel

(police officers). They experienced low response rates to the surveys distributed to line personnel in

Criminal Justice Review

2015, Vol. 40(4) 524-534

ª2015 Georgia State University

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