That’s the old ‘neighborhood policing’ idea. It does work well. In an immigrant neighborhood, rather than put them on community service, exactly, we cooperated with the chief. He just just took them out of their cars and put them on bicycles. They had to bring the squad cars around and do demos for the neighborhood kids and such, but were mainly required to spend time on the street, in the hood. Sometimes, they’d play ball with the kids. They learned their names - in both directions.
It worked great - because the kids knew everything that was going on. But their parents didn’t trust cops, because many were illegals and constantly in fear of the INS. But the kids were mostly US born and attended the local schools - so they were at ease with the language and local custom. The cops made friends with the kids instead, and everything improved shortly - about 6 months. The cops on that beat were basically good guys, and that program is what allowed them to really go for it.
So in general, I agree. The problem is allowing the cops to become isolated and start seeing themselves as ‘other’.
