Today's community policing emphasizes collaborative partnerships between law enforcement and neighborhood residents in addressing public safety concer...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Today's community policing emphasizes collaborative partnerships between law enforcement and neighborhood residents in addressing public safety concerns. This collaborative approach emerged as traditional enforcement-focused patrol methods proved inadequate for building the public trust that effective policing requires. Urban tensions during the 1960s highlighted these limitations when civil rights activists and community organizations demanded more accountability from police departments. Research findings reinforced these community calls for change, demonstrating that patrol strategies alone could not establish the police-community relationships necessary for effective law enforcement. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, growing community organizing efforts pushed police departments to incorporate resident involvement directly into public safety decision-making processes, fundamentally reshaping how officers interact with the neighborhoods they serve.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
It analyzes the effectiveness of different patrol techniques.
It describes conflicts between police and activists.
It examines the emergence of a law enforcement approach.
It recommends solutions to urban crime problems.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Today's community policing emphasizes collaborative partnerships between law enforcement and neighborhood residents in addressing public safety concerns." |
|
| "This collaborative approach emerged as traditional enforcement-focused patrol methods proved inadequate for building the public trust that effective policing requires." |
|
| "Urban tensions during the 1960s highlighted these limitations when civil rights activists and community organizations demanded more accountability from police departments." |
|
| "Research findings reinforced these community calls for change, demonstrating that patrol strategies alone could not establish the police-community relationships necessary for effective law enforcement." |
|
| "Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, growing community organizing efforts pushed police departments to incorporate resident involvement directly into public safety decision-making processes, fundamentally reshaping how officers interact with the neighborhoods they serve." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The passage traces how community policing emerged as a response to the inadequacies of traditional patrol methods.
Argument Flow: We start with today's collaborative community policing approach, then learn it emerged because traditional patrol couldn't build necessary trust. The passage then provides three layers of evidence for this transformation: historical tensions and activist demands in the 1960s, research findings that supported these concerns, and community organizing efforts in the 1970s-80s that actually pushed departments to change how they operate.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? The main purpose of the entire text
What type of answer do we need? A statement about what the author's overall goal was in writing this passage
Any limiting keywords? "Main purpose" - we need the primary, overarching intent, not a secondary detail
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The passage spends most of its time explaining how community policing came to be - it wasn't always the way things were done, but emerged because of specific problems and pressures
- The author's main goal seems to be explaining the development or emergence of this policing approach
It analyzes the effectiveness of different patrol techniques.
✗ Incorrect
- This suggests the passage compares different patrol techniques and evaluates which work better
- The passage mentions traditional patrol methods were inadequate, but doesn't analyze or compare multiple patrol techniques
It describes conflicts between police and activists.
✗ Incorrect
- This suggests the main focus is on describing conflicts between police and activists
- While the passage mentions tensions and demands from activists, these are presented as historical context for why change was needed, not as the main subject
It examines the emergence of a law enforcement approach.
✓ Correct
- This accurately captures what we see throughout the passage - an examination of how community policing emerged
- "Emergence of a law enforcement approach" perfectly describes tracing how community policing came to be
It recommends solutions to urban crime problems.
✗ Incorrect
- This suggests the passage is prescriptive - recommending what should be done about urban crime
- The passage is descriptive and historical, explaining what happened rather than making recommendations