Police-Community Relations: Crisis in Our Times

By Howard H. Earle, California State University, Los Angeles, California. With a Foreword by Wllliam M. Conroy. The Third Edition of this book continues to present comprehensive, authoritative information on all phases of this complex topic. The text has been expanded and updated, however, to maintain currency with concepts and practices. It begins by reviewing general problems of police community relations (PCR), including the police image and crisis areas. The author explores organizational factors, and, in a section on the sociology of PCR, he evaluates the import and impact of civil disobedience and riots. The final section has been greatly expanded. In addition to discussions of PCR programming, the role of the individual officer and the future of PCR, the author presents entirely new chapters on diversion, community crime prevention, and the futuristic Z-cop model. The situations and problems described in this book are real and very serious. The approaches and solutions delineated, having been field tested and proven successful, are equal to the challenge.