Community policing

Because police have a responsibility not only to detect crime, but also to prevent it, community policing has emerged as a major pillar of the OSCE’s police development activities. Successful crime prevention greatly contributes to reducing the fear of crime and can improve the quality of life in a community. Crime prevention requires shared commitment and ownership by police and the public. This can only be achieved through establishing trustworthy police-public partnerships, where the entire police organization, government agencies and all segments of the society are actively co-operating in problem-solving.