[8] Researchers noted that police moved towards reactive strategies rather than proactive, focusing on answering emergency calls quickly and relying on motor vehicle patrols to deter crime.
[12] In 1967, American President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a Blue Ribbon committee to study the apparent distrust of the police by many community members, especially along racial lines.
[18][19] Bob Trajanowcz, a professor of criminal justice in the late 1990s, influenced many future law enforcement leaders on how to implement elements of community policing [20][21] One experiment in Flint, Michigan, involved foot patrol officers be assigned to a specific geographic area to help reduce crime in hot spots.
[22] Kenneth Peak has argued that community policing in the United States has evolved through three generations: innovation (1979 to 1986), diffusion (1987 to 1994), and institutionalization (1995 to the present day).
[23] He says the innovation period occurred following the civil unrest of the 1960s, in large part as an attempt to identify alternatives to the reactive methods developed in mid-century.
[23] Peak says the diffusion era followed, in which larger departments began to integrate aspects of community policing, often through grants that initiated specialized units.
Lastly, the institutionalization era introduced the mass application of community policing programs, in not only large departments but also smaller and more rural ones.
[26] Common methods of community-policing include:[25] Some positives that social media brings to law enforcement would include increasing trust in law enforcement, educating the public of safety issues, decrease crime, identifying the root cause of neighborhood crime and the "good cop" frame.
When talking about increasing trust in law enforcement, social media is regarded to improve agencies' capacities to engage with the community positively.
[28] According to "good cop" frame or theory, police personnel are honorable, obedient, well-trained, and genuinely committed to preventing crime and safeguarding the public from harm.
[29] Some negatives that social media brings to law enforcement would include the "bad cop" frame and rapid spreading.
[30] It employs push, pull, and networking tactics to carry out community-focused policing online without making reference to particular geographic places.
[30] Social networking platforms, for example, have provided police departments of all sizes a great opportunity to engage with the people they protect and serve without using the traditional mainstream media.
[36] The U.S. federal government continues to provide support for incorporating community policing into local law enforcement practices through funding of research such as through the National Center for Community Policing at Michigan State University,[37] small COPS grants to local agencies, and technical assistance.
[38] A review of randomized controlled trials claims little evidence on effectivity of community meetings, tiplines, or reduction of police abuse.
[47] Charles P. McDowell proposed in 1993 that because community policing was a radical departure from existing ideology, implementing it would take time.
David Bayley has argued that enacting community policing policies may lead to a reduction in crime control effectiveness, maintenance of order in the face of violence, increase in bureaucratic and governmental power over community affairs, increases in unequal treatment, and an erosion of constitutional rights.