The following is excerpted from “25 on 2025: A Police Leadership Playbook.” The playbook provides expert insights and actionable strategies to tackle 25 key challenges in modern policing. Download your copy here.
By Assistant Chief Emada E. Tingirides
The reduction of crime and victimization remains the central purpose of the LAPD, with success dependent upon the level of connectivity forged between community members and the police officers who serve them.
In my experience, the reduction of crime, particularly violence, necessitates a multifaceted approach, blending proactive policing strategies with community collaboration, along with innovative technology. This commitment to collaboration is rooted in the belief that the police cannot solve public safety problems alone, but rather public safety is a shared responsibility, requiring joint police-community strategies in the advancement of safety for all.
Fostering a collaborative spirit provides a pathway to advancing community policing goals that build trust and counter long-standing police-community divides. Through purposeful engagement of residents — as well as demonstrations of kindness and an openness to listening to their needs — we can identify common ground, dispel misconceptions, and build relationships.
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Strengthening trust through community-focused policing
The LAPD has established a viable foundation to strengthening police-community relationships through the creation of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP), relationship-based policing model. Its creation demonstrates the critical importance of police-community collaboration in countering the violence and trauma that oftentimes afflicts our neediest and most vulnerable community members.
A powerful aspect of embracing a community-focused policing philosophy is the linking of traditional policing strategies with prevention, intervention and community-building investment strategies, all of which empower residents to assume a larger role in their community. When individuals feel invested in the well-being of their neighborhoods, they are likely to support police, as well as contribute their individual and collective knowledge and resources, in generating a united front against crime and disorder. As officers build relationships with community members and embrace shared ownership of the community’s needs, the community will in turn take ownership of “their” police officers.
Shared responsibility between police and residents changes everything
Identifying solutions to public safety problems requires strategic partnerships, with the following offered for consideration:
- Partner with a university or non-profit to conduct a “Community Needs Assessment,” to amplify community voice, as well as provide guidance to officers, while bolstering awareness and sensitivities to the community’s needs.
- Establish regular dialogue sessions composed of police, residents, institutional partners, stakeholders and community-based organizations.
- Introduce “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design” assessments, hosted in tandem with community members.
- Seek feedback loops to evaluate community perceptions of safety and trust building efforts.
As we navigate contemporary policing challenges, a commitment to the principles of community policing, rooted in the early teachings of Sir Robert Peel, remains as important today as it did two centuries ago. Together, we can build a future where trust, relationships and mutual respect represent the cornerstones to enhanced public safety.
Tactical takeaway
Sustainable crime reduction depends on more than enforcement — it requires trust, collaboration and shared responsibility with the communities officers serve.
What’s one barrier keeping your agency from true partnership with the community? Share below.
About the author
Assistant Chief Emada Tingirides joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1995 and has worked tirelessly to bridge the historical gap between law enforcement and the community. She promoted to sergeant in 2006 and in 2011, was selected to work with civil rights attorney Connie Rice on the creation, coordination and implementation of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) policing philosophy. The relationship-based policing model found new and innovative ways to address quality of life issues in some of Los Angeles most underserved communities. Incorporating a dedicated team of officers into public housing communities and neighborhood parks, helped enable residents to get involved in their community, advocate for themselves and reduce the fear of crime. As relationships were forged and community trust increased, crime at each of the CSP sites dropped dramatically.
In 2015, Chief Tingirides was named the Public Official of the Year by “Governing Magazine,” one of Los Angeles’ most influential women by “Los Angeles Magazine” and was a distinguished guest of First Lady Michelle Obama for the State of the Union Address. Chief Tingirides promoted to lieutenant in 2016, captain in 2019 and deputy chief in 2020 overseeing the first and newly formed Community Safety Partnership Bureau. In October2024, Deputy Chief Tingirides became the commanding officer of Operation South Bureau where she is responsible for policing the majority of the city south of the Santa Monica Freeway to the Port of San Pedro. In July 2025, she was promoted to Assistant Chief serving as the Director of the Office of Operations. Chief Tingirides has a master’s degree from the University of California Irvine in Criminology, Law and Society. Chief Tingirides is married to retired Deputy Chief Philip Tingirides, with whom she has a beautiful, blended family of six children.
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