Date of Award

4-2006

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Public Affairs and Administration

First Advisor

Dr. James A. Visser

Second Advisor

Dr. Barry Goetz

Third Advisor

Dr. Robert A. Peters

Abstract

The police community in the United States began to adopt the philosophy of community policing in the early 1970s as a solution to rising crime rates. Since that time a great many police departments have officially stated that they have embraced and practice this concept. When later studies began to question theeffectiveness of community policing in reducing crime rates, measures such as reduction of citizens' fear of crime and citizen's attitudes toward policebecame the secondary measures of success of this philosophy. Few comprehensive studies have specifically looked at the degree of congruence betweenpolice agency adoption of the community policing philosophy and the line officer's acceptance and regular practice of this concept across multiple small to medium size agencies in an effort to discern a trend. This dissertation looks at the degree of congruence between an agency's purported adoption of the practice of community policing and the acceptance throughout all ranks including the line officers regular practice of this concept.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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