COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME PREVENTION - ISSUE AND PRACTICES

Trust between the police and the communities they serve is fundamental to effective law enforcement, yet its erosion continues to challenge public safety worldwide. This edited volume examines community policing as an evolving paradigm in modern law enforcement, bringing together perspectives from scholars, practitioners, and researchers. Tracing its development from Sir Robert Peel's nineteenth-century policing principles to contemporary initiatives such as Kerala's Janamaithri Suraksha Project, the volume offers comparative perspectives from the United States, Japan, Singapore, Canada, and India. The contributions critically examine established frameworks, including Broken Windows and Zero Tolerance theories, while assessing their relevance to the Indian context and advocating indigenous approaches responsive to local socio-economic conditions. The volume also explores practical dimensions of community policing, including victim-oriented policing, restorative justice, drug-crime prevention, tribal policing, and citizen-participation initiatives such as Friends of Police and Students in Responsible Police. Designed for academics, policymakers, police professionals, and students of criminology, forensic science, sociology, and public administration, this volume provides a comprehensive and evidence-based understanding of community-oriented policing, its evolving practices, and its potential to strengthen police-community relationships and enhance public safety.