Commentary: Community Policing and Public Housing Authorities

Matthew C. Scheider
U.S. Department of Justice

During the 1960s, rising public concern about crime, inner-city race riots, and fractured police and community relations spurred a new interest in policing and housing policy. Since then, public housing and municipal policing have been the subjects of much research and significant change. As the articles in this symposium make clear, these two fields are intimately entwined, and it is likely that they have much to learn from one another. This commentary specifically addresses the community policing philosophy (hereafter, community policing) and its possible application to public housing; however, opportunities certainly exist, which are not discussed here, for municipal police to likewise adopt lessons from the public housing arena.