Community-based policing as an alternative to 'stop and search'?: The example of Northbridge, Western Australia
Publication Details
Drum, Martin and Baldino, Daniel. Community-based policing as an alternative to 'stop and search'?: The example of Northbridge, Western Australia [online]. Public Policy, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2012: 183-198. Availability: ISSN: 1833-2110.
Abstract
Abstract: The Western Australian government's proposed 'stop and search' legislation has drawn considerable opposition from many groups both within the state parliament and the broader community. After the release of a parliamentary committee report which was critical of the proposal, the government's junior partners, the Nationals, announced that they would not support it, effectively ending the possibility that it would become law. Rather than revisiting arguments for and against this legislation, this paper will focus on four alternative strategies - active citizenship, community policing, problem-orientated policing and visible policing - that could be considered in order to resolve the problems cited as justifying expanded law and order legislation, using examples from Northbridge, the principal entertainment precinct in Perth. While 'stop and search' might continue to be a political focal point in preventing and detecting crime, policing frameworks that erode trust will also make co-operation harder. This is particularly evident between police forces and the groups who are often singled out, as well as among the wider public.
Keywords
community policing, activie citizenship, problem-orientated policing, visible policing
