Community Policing Done Differently? Analysis of Daily Activities

• In Event: Reimagining the Frontlines: Institutional Practices, Officer Perspectives, and Local Legitimacy

Abstract

Police services internationally have developed a wide range of educational initiatives and specific programs to adapt their interactions and interventions with individuals in a state of vulnerability. Longueuil police service (suburb of Montreal) developed a new program to intervene preventatively in specific sectors and foster community relations by deploying ‘consultation officers’ anchored in the key principles of discourse, prevention, care and proximity. Little is known about daily police officers' activities within these community consultation programs. Daily activity reports (time spent doing various activities, number of people visited and type of visits as well as referrals) were collected from 31 officers during approximately three years. A cluster analysis was carried out to identify subgroups of “typical days”. Results show that consultation officers present various types of typical days which are influenced by police officers themselves and context.

Authors

• Sophie Charbonneau, Université Laval

• Yanick Charette, Université Laval

• Dumais-Michaud Audrey-Anne, Université Laval

• Anne Crocker, Université de Montréal