After opening the thread I have kept away as it appears to be 100% military, although Slap adds his mixed wisdom. I really liked how 'presence' became 'presents' and other labels.

Local knowledge and having an impact on the enemy is my "armchair" view of the goal.

In the open literature on the Ulster campaign I recall reading how the locally recruited Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) in rural areas became very adept at patrolling and "snap" VCPs.

My experience with getting the police to think before patrolling has not been good and was invariably considered only at low demand times, which often meant at night. It has got better slowly and talking to the public with purpose is happening, see: http://www.polfed.org/PoliceMag_1109_SupportingRole.pdf

Gaining 'atmospherics' has featured in Helmand Province, using a different name and was subject of two opposing articles in RUSI Journal sometime ago (unable to readily locate on my bookshelf).