RT Article
T1 Can community policing reduce perceived disorder? Results from a quasi-experiment in Trinidad and Tobago
JF Policing and society
VO 32
IS 7
SP 911
OP 930
A1 Johnson, Devon
A2 Maguire, Edward R.
A2 Kuhns, Joseph B.
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1816397679
AB This impact evaluation tests the effects of community policing, with an emphasis on problem-oriented policing, on perceived social and physical disorder in a disadvantaged Caribbean community. We use a pre-post, quasi-experimental design with two groups. The data include three waves of citizen surveys carried out in both groups. We use outcome measures developed from exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and a difference-in-differences approach to compare changes in perceived social and physical disorder over time between residents in the treatment and comparison areas. Both the treatment and comparison areas experienced statistically significant small to modest reductions in perceived social and physical disorder between wave 1 (2006) and wave 2 (2007); the decrease was more pronounced in the treatment area. No significant changes in perceived social or physical disorder occurred between wave 2 (2007) and wave 3 (2008). Item-level analyses indicated that the composite measures of disorder masked important changes at the item level. The results suggest that community policing with a problem-solving approach can improve residents’ perceptions of social and physical disorder. The findings highlight the need to consider the nature of the community policing intervention and the quality and dosage of its implementation.
K1 Caribbean
K1 Quasi-experiment
K1 Disorder
K1 problem-oriented policing
K1 community policing
DO 10.1080/10439463.2021.1998048