Community Policing in Small Town and Rural America

Abstract

Community policing has become a popular approach. Discussions of community policing have focused on urban and suburban departments, generally ignoring rural and small town police organizations. Ironically, many of these departments have a history of practices that correspond directly to the principles of community policing. For example, officers in these agencies typically know the citizens personally, have frequent face-to-face contact with them, and engage in a variety of problem-solving activities that fall outside of law enforcement. In neglecting small town and rural police, researchers have denied themselves an important natural laboratory for studying community policing.

Policing in small town America: Dogs, drunks, disorder, and dysfunction

“…A small number of studies were conducted over the past three decades to examine the tasks performed by rural and small-town police officers (Baird-Olson, 2000;Bass, 1995;Cain, 1971;Decker, 1979;Marenin & Copus, 1991;Meagher, 1985;Teske, 1982;Weisheit et al, 1996). Researchers also examined the impact of community-oriented policing on rural policing (Cordner & Scarborough, 1997;O'Shea, 1999;Thurman & McGarrell, 1997;Weisheit et al, 1994;Zhao & Thurman, 1997). Finally, some research efforts were devoted to describe rural officers' responses to specific types of offenses (Ball, 2001;Butterfield, 2002;Hafley & Tewksbury, 1996;Van Hightower, Gorton, & DeMoss, 2000;Websdale, 1995;Websdale & Johnson, 1998).…”

“…Perhaps the most comprehensive research on rural and small-town policing was conducted by Weisheit and his colleagues (Falcone et al, 2002;Weisheit et al, 1994Weisheit et al, , 1995Weisheit et al, , 1996. Using survey and interview data collected from a variety of rural areas throughout the country, Weisheit and colleagues examined a number of issues in rural crime, justice, and policing.…”

“…This was particularly intriguing given that the majority of police departments in the United States were smaller departments located in rural areas (Baker, Wolfer, & Zezza, 2002). While the number of studies on rural crime was increasing, only a handful of researchers examined policing in rural areas (e.g., Bass, 1995;Falcone, Wells, & Weisheit, 2002;Thurman & McGarrell, 1997;Websdale, 1995;Weisheit, 1997;Weisheit, Falcone, & Wells, 1996;Weisheit, Wells, & Falcone, 1994). The lack of empirical research in this area was problematic, in part, because the vast majority of police departments in the U.S. were not fully able to rely on empirical studies based solely in urban areas.…”

Verhalen van plattelandspolitie – constructie van een beroepsidentiteit onder druk

“…In vergelijking met hen zijn zij meer generalisten. Hun (vaker informele) optreden wordt door burgers positiever beoordeeld (zie ook Weisheit, Wells en Falcone 1994;Shapland en Vagg 1987;Marshall en Johnson 2005;Verwee 2009). In verschillende studies is erop gewezen dat niet alleen het lagere niveau van criminaliteit op het platteland hierbij mogelijk een rol speelt.…”

Backward, Dumb, and Violent Hillbillies? Rural Geographies and Intersectional Studies on Intimate Partner Violence

“…Pruitt (2008, p.349f), for example, refers to U.S. research suggesting that "arrests for crimes against family members were four times higher in rural locations than in the largest metropolitan cities"(citing Weisheit, Falcone & Wells, 2006).…”