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Community Policing is a phrase often employed to describe a specific set of behaviors among patrol officers. When the concept is discussed it often evokes thoughts of the foot officer walking the beat, kids in the neighborhood playing kickball with the familiar neighborhood cop, or community groups that call on the same officer day after day to keep him apprised of the hardships in the neighborhood. The idealized vision of Andy in Mayberry may appeal to most people, but the sad truth is that in this day and age it is very difficult, even impossible in some areas, to properly execute. Many urban police agencies are sorely understaffed and are falling behind the curve in salary and benefits because of the financial problems plaguing US cities. The higher salaries being offered by neighboring municipalities, suburban departments, and state police agencies are luring officers away from our cities and compounding the shortfall in manpower even further. In some cities it is difficult, if not nearly impossible, to even staff the bare minimum of patrol assignments much less assign officers to walk or bike consistently in the same neighborhood day after day. Without sufficient coverage to answer calls for service it is irresponsible to believe that officers should be culled from basic assignments to attend community meetings or answer telephone calls from councilpersons and block captains. It detracts from the safety of the officers and reduces their ability to provide for the safety of the community that they have sworn to protect.

An article written by George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson for the March, 1982 issue of the Atlantic Monthly magazine entitled Broken Windows' outlined successes and failures of a number of attempts at different community-oriented policing concepts. The article's authors also go on to suggest that there might be a better, more effective way. The article detailed an experiment conducted by the Governor of New Jersey in the mid 1970s in twenty-eight New Jersey cities. The main thrust of the experiment was to use foot patrol as a means of reigning in rising crime rates and address quality-of-life issues. Experts in the field doubted that the program would have much, if any, effect on crime. They were proven to be right when the Police Foundation in Washington, DC reviewed the program five years after its inception. The Foundation's published reports concluded that the foot patrols had failed to reduce crime rates in New Jersey

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