Community and Policing in Australia: Styles of Policing Rural and Urban Communities

Abstract

Our premise is that the strategies and techniques that police officers employ are adaptations to the types of communities they serve and the law enforcement system of which they are part. A characteristic of Australian policing is that law enforcement occurs through a single state police service. Observations of policing in rural and urban areas of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, indicate that, despite being part of a single state police service, officers develop working philosophies that are systematically adapted to the locations they serve.