9. Joining Forces for Our Security in Austrian Community Policing

Strengthening and developing closeness and confidence in law enforcement authorities is one of the key concerns and tasks of modern police work. The concept of Community Policing is based on the idea of bringing together public actors to form a ‘community partnership’, which serves as a framework for crime prevention and effective crime control close to the citizens. The idea of a partnership involving citizens in crime prevention and crime control is echoed in the Austrian pilot project ‘Joining forces for our security in Austria’, which is intended to proactively advance a dialogue of equals between citizens, the municipal authorities and the police. This chapter provides an introduction to Community Policing in Austria, expanding on the structure and the communication methods used in the pilot project. Subsequently, it discusses the necessity and the standardization of citizen participation as a fundamental element of Community Policing. In light of these theoretical considerations, the recruitment of security citizens in the test districts of the project and their activity profile are described further on. Finally, further developments and the implementation of the Community Policing project in Austria are examined.