Police, criminal justice, and the community

About this book

This book focuses on the relations of the community not only with the police but also with the other components of the criminal justice system and advances a theoretical and practical justification for police-community relations. The book was written as a primary textbook for college students in courses on police-community relations. In addition to its focus on the entire criminal justice system and its sustained justification of police community relations on the basis of the political principles of majority rule and minority rights, this book also emphasizes the need for political and social realism. It stresses that police-community relations are in fact two-way communication, and that even when the police (and courts and corrections as well) fully appreciate the need for improved relations with the community, all of their insights and efforts may well be for naught if there is not a reciprocal and equal response and commitment to police-community relations on the part of the community.