Community Relations

Christine Ivie Edge

Historically, the relationship between police and community has been problematic. Friction between police and community may be attributable to various issues. The values and goals inherent to traditional policing, such as a considerable emphasis on crime fighting, conceivably work against improving relations with the community. Additionally, the discretion afforded police enables them to make a variety of decisions that can have a significant positive or negative impact on citizens' lives. Focused on crime control and equipped with broad discretion, police officers have often been scrutinized for alleged mistreatment of community members. Incidents involving excessive force and invasions of privacy increased the rift between police departments and their communities. In response to criticisms, policing in the United States underwent several eras of reform. In the midst of efforts to make improvements, police departments in the United States continued to seek community affirmation despite allegations of corruption. By the mid1980s, American policing ...

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