Page 19 - 1Proactive Policing

Pro-Active Policing

Reassurance Policing

Reassurance policing is a model of policing that centers on signal crimes. Developed in
the United Kingdom, reassurance policing aims to identify "signals", and involve the community in

solving community-related problems (similar to the community policing model).

The central theme of this article is that current police performance measures are largely

inadequate for capturing many dimensions of community policing practice. Focusing upon a
recent innovation in policing strategy in the United Kingdom, that of reassurance policing, an

argument is developed for alternative ways of thinking about police performance and how it can
be gauged. Drawing upon ideas and insights from social research methodology, it is proposed
that a more qualitative approach to police performance offers the potential for the development of

more meaningful forms of evaluation.

While crime rates in England and Wales have been falling, the perception has remained, for many

that crime is raising. It has also been assumed that fear of crime is high, although measures of
fear have been declining since the mid-1990s. Of greater concern is a concurrent decline in
confidence in the police. This ‗gap‘ underpins the need for reassurance as a means of gaining

legitimacy for policing decisions. We consider the background to reassurance policing and
examine interpretation at ground level through interviews with officers involved in a strategy trial

based upon a ‗signal crimes‘ perspective.

Reassurance policing was trialed in England from 2002 to 2005, emphasizing police visibility and

public consultation on locally identified priorities. In this article, I ask ‗whatever happened to
reassurance policing?‘ This may seem a strange question to ask. With the expansion of

neighborhoods and citizen-focused policing, the policing pledge, and a single public confidence
performance target, reassurance policing seems to be alive and well. However, by focusing on
four early intentions for a reassurance approach, I question this assumption. Reassurance is

found to be a part of British policing, but it could be much more. Contemporary examples where
policing could (and perhaps should) be more reassuring are provided.

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