An early version of community policing based on decentralization and increased participation within the community is called what?

• A. Team Policing
• B. Community Policing
• C. Neighborhood Policing
• D. Beat Policing

Answer: (A)

The concept being tested is how policing evolved toward giving local units more decision-making authority and closer ties with the community. Team Policing embodies this shift by organizing officers into small, geographically defined teams that have responsibility for their area and work directly with residents to identify and solve local problems. This decentralization and emphasis on daily collaboration with the community are what set it apart as an early form of community policing.

While Community Policing describes the broader approach of partnerships and problem-solving across the organization, it is a later, more comprehensive phase that built on ideas from earlier experiments like Team Policing. Neighborhood Policing and Beat Policing focus more on location or patrol structure rather than the explicit move toward decentralized authority and active, sustained community involvement.