COMMUNITY-ORIENTED RESEARCH IN AN ERA OF COMMUNITY-ORIENTED POLICING

Proactive public administrators ill modern American society are challe nged to know and respond to the needs of their diverse constituencies if they are to direct responsive government agencies. However more tha n just knowing citizens' needs and responding in kind unilaterally, lo cal government in the community era is expected to engage the public i n participative governance. This article describes how one such entity -the police department-is changing with regard to a philosophical shif t in how it must conduct business in the future, and in turn, how it m ight employ community-oriented research methods to assess its progress and effectiveness among the citizens it serves.