The Fragmentation of Policing in American Cities

Book excerpt: The relationship between police and the communities and citizens they serve has long been a topic of study and controversy. Sung provides a place-oriented theory of policing to guide strategies for crime control and problem-oriented policing. He contends that community policing is a product of power relations among communities. Sung also explores: •how police and citizens interact with each other in stratified and residentially segregated communities •how services are delivered by police •how citizens respond to those charged with protecting them and enforcing the law Illuminating the police-neighborhood and advancing a clear hypothesis for explaining and predicting changes in police behavior, this both provides a conceptual platform for public policy debate, planning, and evaluation of police, public safety, and democratic governance. According to Sung, place has everything to do with the success of community policing, and the attitudes of both police and citizens contribute to the success or failure of police initiatives as well as the level of crime inherent in a community. By focusing on the social and political forces that shape the residential patterns of American cities and the organization of police work, Sung provides a theoretical framework for considering the relations between police and citizens in different neighborhoods. He concludes that current modes of police-community relations and crime prevention will improve only if the policies adopted encourage the transformation of marginal communities into communities where citizens feel a shared responsibility for maintaining and peace and order. This unique contribution to a growing field of study provides an ecological theory of police-citizen relations that begins with the inequality and segregation inherent in many American cities.