Community relations and policing: A communication accommodation theory perspective

Police worldwide face the ongoing challenge of forging positive and mutually beneficial relationships with the communities they serve. However, these relationships are sometimes strained and even violent, particularly in certain impoverished, indigenous, or minority communities with a long history of tension and conflict with the police. Communication mediates these relationships and can play a significant role in improving or diminishing them. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), which falls within the sub-discipline of intergroup communication, provides an explanation for how and why individuals adjust their communication across various contexts, and the social consequences of such adjustments. CAT provides a potent framework for understanding the dynamics of police-community relations. This chapter underscores the real potential for how theory and research on intergroup communication accommodation can help police and the public establish stronger, safer, more meaningful relationships which benefit the quality of life for both groups.