AbstractCommunity psychologists have often refrained from entering the public policy decision‐making arena. This has limited psychology's potential impact on life in the community. This paper describes a project in which (a) the role of the community psychologist was broadly conceptualized, and (b) principles of community psychology as well as other social sciences were applied a priori to the efforts of a large suburban community to deal with vandalism. A major factor determining the project's outcome was the application of behavioral science through consultation with the leadership of a townwide committee. In this way a psychologist was able to expand successfully his role into the wider areas of human services and public polic