The participation of the community in its own protection is one of the central elements of community policing. This involvement can range from monitoring neighbors' homes to reporting drug dealers to patrolling the streets. This may involve participating in problem identification and resolution efforts, crime prevention programs, neighborhood revitalization, and educational and recreational programs for youth. Citizens can act individually or in groups, they can collaborate with the police and they can even join the police department by giving their time as volunteers, reservists or auxiliaries of the police department. Under community policing, police departments are expected to not only cooperate with citizens and communities, but also actively solicit their feedback and participation. The exact nature of this participation can and should vary from community to community and from situation to situation, consistent with the problem-based approach. In general, however, the police should avoid pretending that they alone can handle problems of crime, drugs, or disorder, and they should encourage citizens and community groups to take some responsibility for solving these problems. . Police have sometimes found it necessary to engage in community organizing as a means of achieving some degree of citizen participation in problem solving or crime prevention. In disorganized, transient neighborhoods, residents are often so upset, fearful, and distrustful of each other (or simply so unfamiliar with their neighbors) that police have had to literally strive to create a sense of community there where none existed before. As difficult as this type of community organizing can be, and as far from the conventional medium of paper......within policing and popular cultures, it is understandable, given the dramatic nature of emergencies, crimes and investigations. Much of police work involves reacting to and solving problems, fighting between good and evil. Responding to emergencies and fighting crime have heroic elements that naturally appeal to both police officers and citizens. However, given the choice, almost all citizens would prefer not to be victims in the first place rather than to be dramatically rescued, whether the police succeed in tracking down their attacker or the police recover their stolen property. Most citizens would agree that “prevention is better than cure.” This does not mean that the police should turn their backs on reactive management of crimes and emergency situations, but only that prevention before the fact should be given more consideration...