Community Policing or Big Brother?

K. Michael, University of Wollongong
Kate Russell, SBS World View

Abstract

How do we keep our communities safe in an era of shrinking resources for police on the beat? The idea of community policing in the age of wirelss internet, closed circuit television and Google earth... sounds a bit like George Orwell's Big Brother. Dr. Katina Michael, from the University of Wollongong, has been investigating what we can expect. She addressed a recent conference on Law Enforcement Cooperation in Canberra. Kate Russell asked Dr. Michael whether community policing is just neighbourhood watch in the 21st century.