Community, intelligence-led policing and crime control

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between community policing, intelligence-led policing and crime control. Whilst community and intelligence-led policing have developed as distinctive reform movements within contemporary UK policing there have been calls for the two to interact in practice. In particularly, aspects of community policing are operationalized through the frameworks of intelligence-led policing. This article unpicks the structures and processes of (community) intelligence processes in detail. It focuses on the nature of information generated from community policing; how analytical products are constructed; and the nature of the officer tasking and briefing process. It is argued that community policing was conceived, at least in part, as an alternative to traditional reactive policing styles which coalesce around patrol, rapid response to incidents and enforcement of the criminal law. However, as community policing has evolved in practice it has become firmly embedded in conventional police-centric notions of 'efficiency', law enforcement and crime control.

Ranger perceptions of the role of local communities in providing actionable information on wildlife crime

“…Given our finding that local people often fear UWA law enforcement rangers, incorporating these skills in the training and ongoing mentoring and professional development for rangers working with local communities is vital. Another consequence of inexperience and limited training is that law enforcement staff may be underqualified to assess the importance of community information before they submit it for processing into intelligence (Bullock, 2013). This can lead to valuable information on wildlife crime being dismissed, or “information overload” when there is too much information to be analyzed into intelligence (Bullock, 2013).…”

Introduction to the special issue

“…These are, in turn, used to direct tactical and strategic operations of police services. Police scholars have argued that ILP should interface with community policing efforts rather than being viewed as a separate process (Bullock, 2013). The post 9/11 era provided an impetus for police services to enhance their intelligence capacities.…”

The police intelligence division-of-labour

“…Thinking within the police métier, community intelligence can provide useful clues, for example, if focused through the lenses of serious and organised crime or counterterrorism analysis (Bayer 2010, p. 21-22, Delpeuch andRoss 2016). On the other hand, community and problem oriented policing prescribes a social crime prevention focus on community intelligence that aims to alter the circumstances productive of crime and disorder in the first instance (Ekblom 2003;Mouhanna 2008;Punch et al 2008;Bullock 2013Bullock , 2014Leighton 2016). Community intelligence can be focused on community capacity building, but doing so is tangential to the police métier (Skogan 2016).…”