As violent crime increases significantly across the United States, police executives are again faced with the ever-present question: How can crime best be reduced while simultaneously rebuilding community trust? For decades, there has been a perceived trade-off between effective crime reduction strategies and positive community-police relations. Additionally, the most recent political and societal demands for reduced police involvement raises new concerns regarding the impact of crime prevention efforts, especially when mental health and substance abuse issues are involved.

Experience has shown that proactive and aggressive policing tactics can—at least temporarily—reduce crime (and particularly violence) in communities. Yet we also know that many of these policing activities are viewed by the public as intrusive and heavy-handed, often increasing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities and exacerbating already frayed community-police relations. Equally problematic is that many crime-reduction efforts that do not involve law enforcement often show little impact in reducing crime and violence in high-risk neighborhoods. As a result, police executives often feel they are being cut by the proverbial double-edged sword: reduce crime but alienate the community or focus on community relations and risk crime rising in already troubled neighborhoods.

Fortunately, evidence is accumulating that demonstrates this perceived trade-off is not inevitable. There are strategies to produce impactful community-focused crime prevention in which police, businesses, and community stakeholders are equally invested in their commitment. These efforts show that crime can be reduced while rebuilding fractured community trust and illuminating a pathway for communities to engage in long-term violence-reduction efforts.