<P> The contemporary community policing movement emphasizes changing the role of law enforcement from a static, reactive, incident - driven bureaucracy to a more dynamic, open, quality - oriented partnership with the community . Community policing philosophy emphasizes that police officers work closely with local citizens and community agencies in designing and implementing a variety of crime prevention strategies and problem - solving measures . </P> <P> Common implementations of community - policing include: </P> <Ul> <Li> Relying on community - based crime prevention by utilizing civilian education, neighborhood watch, and a variety of other techniques, as opposed to relying solely on police patrols . </Li> <Li> Re-structuralizing of patrol from an emergency response - based system to emphasizing proactive techniques such as foot patrol . </Li> <Li> Increased officer accountability to civilians they are supposed to serve . </Li> <Li> Decentralizing the police authority, allowing more discretion amongst lower - ranking officers, and more initiative expected from them . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Relying on community - based crime prevention by utilizing civilian education, neighborhood watch, and a variety of other techniques, as opposed to relying solely on police patrols . </Li>

The use and effectiveness of community policing in a democracy