| Improved image. Despite the limited scope of the cases studied, Frühling concludes that the results were generally positive. Closer ties between the police and the community “revitalized existing police forces, increased the levels of social support, and encouraged far-reaching changes in their structures and operation,” he writes.
The four initiatives, launched between 1998 and 2000, are now sustainable and enjoy widespread local support. Their impact on crime rates is harder to determine, because local authorities did not conduct the kind of follow-up research that would make it possible to determine changes in that regard.
However, Frühling argues that lower crime rates have not been the principal benefit of community policing programs in many successful cases, including those of Chicago and New York City in the United States. Instead, many advocates of these programs, both in Latin America and in other regions, claim that the most important benefit of these initiatives is to reduce abuses by the police. Frühling also cites public opinion polls that show much higher levels of approval toward the police in places where community policing has been introduced.
Support for the police. Frühling warns that community policing is no panacea. Without deeper institutional changes, training strategies, sustained community participation and coordination with other government agencies, community policing programs can be reduced to novelties that only benefit a small group of people.
In particular, Frühling calls for administrative decentralization of the entire law enforcement system to bring about more-direct oversight of the program by mid-level officers who are closer to the community. He also recommends increased flexibility in the work shifts and schedules for community police officers to respond to the demands that community policing places on officers. In Guatemala, for example, authorities initially introduced community policing by increasing the working hours of the few officers available, an approach that generated frustration and resistance among the rank and file. Finally he urges an increased focus on building conflict resolution capacity.
All four of the projects logged their most significant success in the area of community participation. In three of the cities—Bogotá, São Paulo, and Belo Horizonte—the police themselves encouraged community participation. The program in Villa Nueva, on the other hand, was proposed, funded and implemented by an external body, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights.
Frühling notes that in all four cases the police sought to coordinate their work with other institutions, although these efforts were not as systematic and lasting as they should have been. Villa Nueva created a Municipal Citizen Security Council that brought together the municipality, public prosecutors, judges and public defenders to support the community policing project. In Bogotá, one of the central axes of the security policy was cooperation between the local government and the police under an initiative known as the “Bogotá Mission.” Belo Horizonte and São Paulo also set up councils to coordinate support from other government agencies and civil society.
Recommendations. Frühling concludes that citizens in all four of the profiled cities are anxious to see the community policing programs continue. His recommendations for other cities that are considering this approach include:
- Establish clear guidelines with a theoretical component and clearly defined implementation stages.
- Select institutions to support community policing.
- Carefully calculate costs.
- Select optimal locations for project implementation.
- Design strategic reforms within the police.
- Create mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation.
“Ongoing evaluation of community policing programs should help bring about a gradual improvement in the police reform processes currently under way,” Frühling concludes.
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