Neighborhood-Driven Policing Revisited

By Richard W. Myers, Bernard H. Levink, and Joseph A. Schafer

The Neighborhood-Driven Policing model has been revisited by policing reform advocates since its beginnings in 2005, as several key elements of NDP encapsulate various changes that have garnered widespread consideration in recent years. While much has changed in the fifteen years since the original piece was published, many other issues remain stubbornly entrenched. This paper involved conducting an analysis of research and seeks to describe an updated vision of how NDP might better-meet the needs and expectations of both police and residents in contemporary communities. The authors offer this revisitation of NDP as a starting point for more imaginative conversations about how we should rethink basic assumptions about police staffing, police deployment, the skills of policing, and the nature of police-communication roles and relationships. Furthermore, this paper encourages ways to think about the position and role that police and residents occupy in their relationship with each other as they seek to enhance shared goals, namely community safety and resident well-being. It is our hope that this document will advance deeper conversations, rather than viewing the document as a proven prescription for the future of policing. This paper was developed as part of a collaboration between the National Policing Institute (NPI) and the Futures Working Group (FWG). The FWG is a research and training organization affiliated with the Society of Police Futurists International. The NPI/FWG partnership seeks to advance discussions about how the future of technology, society, crime, and justice might influence the policing profession.

Arlington, VA: National Police Foundation, 2021. 27p.