Many American, British, Canadian, and other police departments across the globe had dealt with dramatic and persistent increases in crime and violence from the 1960s through the end of the twentieth century. In the 1980s, police executives looked for a new strategy to replace the rather ineffective random patrol model that had proven to be ineffective in crime prevention and control. While motorized police patrol had been viewed as a significant technological advancement in policing, a return to neighborhood foot patrol became an appealing option as public confidence in the police had continued to decline as crime rates had persistently increased. Eventually there was the call for a more strategic long term, problem-oriented approach that was incorporated into community policing endeavors that came to fruition in the 1980s and became an institutional priority for many police departments for at least the next three decades. However, with consistent and rather dramatic crime declines since 1995 and the prioritization of homeland security and counter-terrorism responsibilities following the September 2001 terrorist attacks, coupled with drastic budgetary restrictions, there has been a transition away from traditional community policing practices that has limited direct contact with the public and at times negatively affected community confidence in the police. With the acceptance of indirect communication via social media, there has been a steep decline in direct police-community engagement. One has to wonder if traditional community policing and the highly respected “beat cop” will return as a deployment option.