ABSTRACT
Police involvement in community projects has been a special feature of policing in parts of Scotland, particularly the west and central belt, for the past twenty years. Community involvement policing cannot be used as simply a public relations exercise in any project. Such an approach will do more harm than good. Decisions by the police to initiate such projects are usually made on the basis of high crime rates. The most important aspect of any community project is the involvement of the local people. If this involvement is not stimulated the project will fail. In London, the Metropolitan Police can claim to have the greatest problem, in terms of racial ghetto areas, in Britain. The Metropolitan Police community liaison officers have the responsibility of working in areas of high immigration, most of which are also areas of high deprivation and crime.
