The Future of Community Policing
Robert Jones
Kaplan University
Community Policing
CJ213
Professor John Carpenter
September 01, 2013

The Future of Community Policing
Community policing is a philosophy that is utilized by law enforcement agencies around the world. Moreover, law enforcement agencies worldwide have garnished much success in their crime reduction efforts through their community policing programs. In the United States, many law enforcement agencies have yet to employ community policing programs. The failure to embrace change by many law enforcement agencies may contribute to a grim future for community policing in the United States. Japan began a highly successful community policing program called Koban. Koban in translation means “police box". The basic premise behind the Koban program is to have a small cadre of police officers (1-10) on duty, 24/7 in every neighborhood. There are approximately 6,500 Koban boxes throughout the country. The police officers that are assigned to the Kobans typically work eight hour shifts. The basic duties of the police officer assigned to a Koban post include standing watch at their respective post, conducting foot and vehicle patrols, conducting residential and business visits to provide and solicit information on resident security and safety needs and to respond for calls for service. One of the distinct aspects of the Koban program is that the police officers are trained to engage in casual conversations with community members in order to establish a trusting relationship. And through a trusting relationship, citizens will be more apt to assist police officers with their criminal investigations.
In 2003, Tor Tanke Holm, the head of the Serbian police forces publicly announced, “It is no longer feasible for a police officer just to enforce the law. Citizens and police officers can establish