Intelligence-Led and Community-Based Policing: The Effects on Community Relations
Abstract
As the police organization evolves to meet the ever-changing needs of the 21st century, policing styles and philosophies continue to innovate in an attempt to reduce crime and maintain order. Each fluctuation in policing style has affected the public, particularly minority groups, in its own specific manner. This paper discusses these fluctuations in policing in Canada with a focus on the most recent and popular styles of policing: community-oriented and intelligence-led policing, as implemented under the Ontario Mobilization and Engagement Model (OMEM) in 2010. Specifically, through a survey study with officers from Waterloo Regional Police Services this work seeks to examine whether police officers who have been hired and trained under OMEM are more supportive of community-oriented and intelligence-led policing styles than officers hired previously, and whether these officers differ in their perceptions of the relationships between police and minority communities. Empirical work is framed though a procedural justice lens, and posits that police legitimacy, and thus community relations and public support, are directly affected by officers operating in a procedurally just manner. It is argued here that procedural justice is inherent in community-oriented policing activities, and thus, officers who are trained under OMEM will be supportive of community-oriented policing and will behave in a more procedurally just manner, increasing police legitimacy and improving community relations. Results indicate that full organizational change did not occur following OMEM, with officers hired after OMEM showing more support for some COP and ILP activities but not necessarily engaging in them more. In some cases, officers hired after OMEM were more likely to be critical of community relations and to report greater divisiveness with different minority groups. This suggests that while OMEM may raise awareness and support, there is still a lack of full organizational engagement with COP and ILP. These results have implications for policy, suggesting that a greater proportion of resources need to be committed to long-term community-oriented policing activities, with particular attention paid to new immigrants in the region, in order to fully incorporate COP and ILP activities into all aspects of police work.
URI for this record
http://hdl.handle.net/1974/24036Request an alternative format
If you require this document in an alternate, accessible format, please contact the Queen's Adaptive Technology CentreRelated items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Law Enforcement Attitudes of Current Public and Departmental Surveillance Technologies: A Qualitative Case Study of The Toronto Police Service
Cox, StacieThis thesis explores the perceptions of front-line police officers surrounding synoptic and panoptic surveillance and the implications of police body-worn cameras on community relations, citizen’s recording devices and ... -
A Comparison of Higher Education and Previous Work Experience on Military Police Academy Performance
Battista, Adam (2014-03-24)This research is an attempt at understanding the value of higher education with respect to police officer performance. This study used a sample of 331 Canadian Forces Military Police (CFMP) recruits who attended the ... -
In The Mounties We Trust: A Study of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability
Wettlaufer, Stephen (2011-07-06)Police and Canadian citizens often clash during protests sometimes resulting in violent outcomes. Due to the nature of those altercations, there are few other events that require oversight more than the way police clash ...