Andre Anderson has been working in law enforcement for more than 25 years, almost all of it in the Glendale (Arizona) Police Department, where he is currently the commander of the department’s Special Operations Division. In 2015, he was tapped to be interim police chief in Ferguson, Missouri, where the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, Jr., by a police officer sparked racial unrest the year before. In his short time as interim chief in Ferguson, Andre Anderson focused on community policing as one means of calming tense feelings.

In the United States, traditional policing has been a reactive style of law enforcement that involves police officers responding to different situations within their jurisdiction. This includes patrolling the community for crimes that are occurring or have occurred, and answering phone calls from citizens. Usually, traditional policing is broken down into specialized units dealing with, for example, major crimes like homicide. This is particularly common in larger police departments.

On the other hand, in community policing officers focus on collaboration, forming partnerships with local citizens and organizations. Doing so not only helps officers to establish greater trust in the communities they serve, but it also gives the community a chance to develop solutions that prevent crime from occurring in the first place. Simply put, community policing is aimed at serving the community instead of only controlling it.