Book Review: Skogan, W. G. (2006). Police and Community in Chicago: A Tale of Three Cities. New York: Oxford University Press. xii pp., 343 pp

• Author: Christopher Pac-Soo
• Published date: 01 September 2008
• Date: 01 September 2008
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016808319185
• Subject Matter: Articles

seems to me to be carefully thought through. I did however find his definition of police cor-

ruption as “any proscribed act involving the misuse of the officer’s official position for money

or money’s worth” (p. 47) to be unduly narrow. On this definition, a police officer who tar-

gets lawbreakers from one ethnic group, whereas turning a blind eye to the same offenses

when committed by members of another is not corrupt, nor is a police force which has

become the tool of the governing party. Barker would, it seems, think of these as instances of

“abuse of authority” and not of corruption. In my view, they are both. Corrupt activities are

those activities which tend to subvert the moral health of the individual or organization, and

abuse of authority and accepting bribes both do that. Furthermore, we know that failures of

integrity in one area of policing, whether by an individual or group, tends to bleed over into

other areas, that is, they tend to corrupt those who engage in them.

Despite my worries on this specific point, overall this book seems to me to be an unusu-

ally successful introductory text in the field of professional ethics, which will be both

accessible and educational for its target audience.

Andrew Alexandra

University of Melbourne, Australia

Skogan, W. G. (2006). Police and Community in Chicago: A Tale

of Three Cities. New York: Oxford University Press. xii pp., 343 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016808319185

Wesley Skogan’s book is significant in that it provides criminologists, and those interested

in crime, race, and policing, the opportunity to benefit from a research project that is all too

rare in academia. In an age when evaluative research on policing policy and practice is driven

by quick answers to often complex social and crime problems, Skogan’s research demon-

strates the value of longitudinal research on a grand scale. The task Skogan and his colleagues

set themselves was to evaluate the citywide community-policing program adopted by the

city of Chicago, using analysis of crime statistics, surveys, and interviews.

Skogan addresses two key questions about community policing. Can large police institu-

tions change? This highlights the ideological split between community policing and existing

policing cultures. We are all familiar with debates about “canteen” and “cop” cultures which

mark out policing—from the officers’ perspectives—as focused on crime fighting, which

results in resistance to changes in policing roles. Community-policing is seen as a direct chal-

lenge to what police officers have become accustomed to considering their work. How, then, would

a policing institution as large as Chicago’s cope with the challenges of a citywide community-

policing program? Does community-policing work? Given the ambiguous notion of community

policing, it was refreshing to read a book that did not shirk from the responsibility of identifying

the aims, targets, and mechanisms involved in community policing. Part of the problem with

previous literatures on community policing is the diversity of actions and policy associated

with it. By studying Chicago, Skogan’s research was able to highlight the specifics of the city’s

community-policing program. These included tackling neighborhood problems and, in doing

so, healing some rifts between the police and the communities they serve.

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