• Overview
• Research and Publications
• Tools and Strategies
• Training and Capacity Building

Fair law enforcement – a key component of democratic life – hinges on the mutual respect and understanding of police officers and community residents. However, in many urban areas, the incidence of police misconduct has eroded public trust. Organized protests against abuse temporarily defuse anger and resentment. But the development of effective strategies for improving community-police relations and achieving the promise of fair and equitable policing remains unrealized in the absence of sustained community participation and institutional responsiveness.

Through our work with community-centered policing, PolicyLink contributed to the field by heightening the importance of community involvement in the policy and decision-making processes of local police departments and to build on the relationship of police officers and community residents as equal partners in public safety. Toward this end, the activities of our work to date have included:

• conducting national research on promising, community-centered police practices and compiling the results in a report, Community-Centered Policing: A Force for Change, that highlights over 80 practices in over 50 cities;
• organizing a convening, From Protest to Proposal: A Police-Community Relations Forum, in Cincinnati to discuss the promise that exists and to develop an action agenda based on local conditions and goals identified by Cincinnati participants;
• developing an advocacy manual to equip local communities with concrete tools and strategies for implementing community-centered police reform.

More ... (Community Centered Policing Research and Publications)