Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Volume

16

Issue

3

Abstract

Foot patrol work is rarely described in relation to public health, even though police routinely encounter health risk behaviors and environments. Through a qualitative study of foot patrol policing in violent ‘hotspots’ of Philadelphia, we explore some prospects and challenges associated with bridging security and public health considerations in law enforcement. Noting existing efforts to help advance police officer knowledge of, and attitudes toward health vulnerabilities, we incorporate perspectives from environmental criminology to help advance this bridging agenda. Extending the notion of capable guardianship to understand foot patrol work, we suggest that the way forward for theory, policy, and practice is not solely to rely on changing officer culture and behavior, but rather to advance a wider agenda for enhancing collective guardianship, and especially ‘place management’ for harm reduction in the city.

DOI

10.1080/15614263.2013.846982

Comments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Police Practice and Research on 14 October 2013, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15614263.2013.846982.

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