Not In My Neighborhood: An Essay on Policing Place

This article examines how the police use the concept of place (geography) in police activities, and as a component of resource deployment. The author first discusses the definition of neighborhood and how it is used differently by researchers and the police. For researchers, neighborhoods are defined by many variables with the geography of the neighborhood remaining constant. For the police, on the other hand, geography and place are dynamic variables used to define a neighborhood into a physical location that needs police resources. The author provides a detailed look at the concept of neighborhoods from a police perspective, using the city of Chicago as an example. While the police look at neighborhoods from a primarily geographical perspective, variables used by the research community to define neighborhood characteristics can also be helpful to police in the resource planning process. 4 figures, 5 notes, and 10 references