The History of Community Policing Research Paper - 1

The History of Community Policing - Research Paper Example In looking for the key variable that provided the cohesiveness and viability to the concept of democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville identified the abundance of voluntary associations (Trojanowicz, 1982). It is likely that American judges, attorneys, and police officers of the 1800s and 1900s had a good sense of values of community, the decisions required relative to crime and social control, and the resources required to maintain the community in a healthy state (Tocqueville, 1961). Democratic ideological fears of adopting an institution from monarchical Europe helped ensure that local political repre ­sentatives would control American police departments. This local control eventually resulted in the misuse of police agencies by politicians and corruption flowed over into police departments (Miller, 2000). The first American police department to advance beyond the night watch concept and organize along the professional lines of Peel's model was the New York City police department in 1845 (Fogelson, 1977). Since the 19th century the United States has seen three specific periods of policing methodology that have been predominately, but not exclusively, directed at urban areas. The majority of information that has been learned from researchers has come from studies that have focused on large metropolitan police departments that were the first to implement these programs (Maguire et al., 1997). These three periods of policing strategy include: the political era, the reform era, and the community problem-solving era.