Community Oriented Policing (COPPS)
Breaking the Cycle
Residents may feel that neighborhood conditions go from bad to worse, but community
policing can break the cycle. Fear may keep some residents off the streets. Residents may
become isolated from each other and forget the power they have as a group. In effect
they give up control of their neighborhoods. Neighborhood conditions may worsen. When
residents close their doors on neighborhood problems, they also close their doors on solutions.
Crime rates may rise. Fear and isolation may increase. And so the cycle goes. Residents may
start to lose hope that things can ever change.
