Source: (1989) Crime & Delinquency 35(3):458-470.
Citizens ask 4 things of police: to relieve fear and risk of crime, manage disputes, provide services and be accountable. The meeting of each of these objects is modeled as a subsystem of police-citizen interaction. Properly modeled, the 4 subsystems become isomorphic, or complementary. The isomorphism, built on empowerment of members of a community to manage their affairs democratically, is what an emerging school of students of political and economic development calls “synergetic.” Community members gain power to interact and cooperate to meet one another’s needs, generating compassion which inhibits violence.
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