Community Policing is a collaborative effort between a police department and community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems. Community Policing is founded on close, mutually beneficial ties between police and community members: At the center of community policing are three essential and complementary core components:

• Partnerships between the police and the community (PARTNERSHIPS are the tool or means with which the problem-solving takes place)
   
• Problem-Solving as a method to identify and solve problems of concern to the community (PROBLEM-SOLVING (P.O.P.) is the tactic or strategy used to solve community problems of  crime or decay)
    
• Change Management within the police organization to accommodate increased community involvement (Community Policing is a PHILOSOPHY for doing police work)

WHAT IS PROBLEM-ORIENTED POLICING? 

Problem-Oriented Policing (P.O.P.) is the tactic used to produce long-term solutions to problems of crime or decay in communities. Police, residents, and other agencies or organizations work together to identify and find the causes for neighborhood crime problems, then develop responses to the problems based on the problems' causes. Responses are NOT cookie-cutter, one-response-fits-all. Responses are not 100% police responses. In most cases, the responses developed through P.O.P. are joint police-community actions, which also involve participation by agencies such as parks, code enforcement, youth services, the health department, and HUD.

Alhambra and most police departments throughout the United States, Canada and the U.K. use the S.A.R.A. (or SARAM) method for problem-solving:

• S = Scanning: Identify and describe the PROBLEM
• A = Analyze: How much of a problem is it? What is the problem? Who is affected? What are the problem's causes?
• R = Response: Based on the two steps above, devise an appropriate response to the problem. There may be several responses. Responses may be done over a long period of time.
• A = Assess: Evaluate the results of the responses. If the results are not satisfactory, re-analyze the problem, or try another response.
• M = Maintenance: Problem-solving is only successful if it produces a long-term solution. A P.O.P. response may have short-term positive results, but can these results be maintained over a longer period of time? (six months, one year, etc.) without constant intervention by police, residents and/or other agencies? In other words: "Has the problem been solved?"

P.O.P. is being used by police and residents to produce long-term solutions to persistent crime problems in communities throughout Alhambra, resulting in reductions not only in crime rates, but also in the fear of crime.