In order to improve law enforcement on a local level, the Kennedy School of Government is beginning a program which will encourage police departments to become more involved in their communities.

The Program for Community Policing will urge police department officials to meet with criminal justice scholars to discuss ways to increase community contact and involvement.

The program will also compare past and present law enforcement polices. At the beginning of this century many police departments provided social services of the type that subsequently have been taken over by welfare programs, and in doing so had a closer relationship with their community.

Headed by Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice Policy and Management Mark H. Moore, the program is funded by a $30,000 grant from the Guggenheim Foundation and other donations.