Impact of community policing on public confidence in the police

Since the early 2000s, the police have been facing a ‘reassurance gap’: despite crime reduction, the public perception of safety has worsened. To overcome this issue, the British police have since undergone a set of reforms, moving toward democratic policing. In particular, supported by a positive experience in the US, community policing (CP) became widely used to reassure the public of the police's effectiveness. However, despite all efforts, statistics keep indicating declining confidence in the police. Concerned about the lack of improvement, the current report investigates whether the modern approach to policing is the right means to restore public trust. Specifically, through analysis of the recent academic research and official reports on this subject, it is found that the CP model is indeed beneficial for both the public and the police. However, this paper also indicates that, among other challenges, the conceptual misinterpretation of CP results in its ineffectiveness. Further, the report advises on the countermeasures to achieve balanced policing and, thus, to restore the police's reputation.