ABSTRACT
The concept of problem-oriented policing is two decades old (Goldstein, 1979) and the full-scale application of the concept is fif teen-years old (Eck and Spelman, 1987). The central tenet of this approach is that the function of the police is to address recurring
concerns to the public (Goldstein, 1990). This normative theory of the police is the most important police reform since Sir Robert Peel pro posed the establishment of an uniformed civilian police force for Lon don. The novelty of problem-oriented policing is underscored by the simple fact that it is not based on a reformulation of recurring themes in the evolution of policing, unlike other attempts to change police.1
