The Limits of Community Policing

A critical look at the realities of community policing in South Los Angeles The Limits of Community Policing addresses conflicts between police and communities. Luis Daniel Gascn and Aaron Roussell depart from traditional conceptions, arguing that community policingpopularized for decades as a racial panaceais not the solution it seems to be. Tracing this policy back to its origins, they focus on the Los Angeles Police Department, which first introduced community policing after the high-profile Rodney King riots. Drawing on over sixty interviews with officers, residents, and stakeholders in South LAs Lakeside precinct, they show how police tactics amplifiedrather than resolvedracial tensions, complicating partnership efforts, crime response and prevention, and accountability. Gascn and Roussell shine a new light on the residents of this neighborhood to address the enduringand frequently explosiveconflicts between police and communities. At a time when these issues have taken center stage, this volume offers a critical understanding of how community policing really works.