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The relationship between the police and the communities they serve hasn’t always been the most productive. Against the backdrop of the tumultuous era of the 1960s when the nation’s collective unrest regarding various then current events ranging from the social upheaval of the civil rights movement to the broadly unpopular and deepening conflict in Vietnam spilled onto the streets of American cities seemingly everywhere, local police forces, lacking in experience with crowd control, often found themselves in violent encounters with these various groups, earning them a reputation of being oppressive organizations (Schmalleger, 2014, p. 112). This reputation works against the police even to this day by causing a deep distrust of law enforcement in various communities.
In response, police departments have shifted from the old-fashioned legalistic style of policing which was marked by the strict adherence and enforcement of the letter of the law, to what is now called community policing. The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office of the United States Department of Justice formally defines community policing as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime” (n.d., p. 3). In other words, police departments try to partner with not just private citizens of the the communities they serve, but also members of private and public organizations to learn about their concerns first hand and then include them in solving these issues in various ways. According to Schmalleger, a few examples of this strategy at w...
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...n (10th ed.). Pembroke, NC: Pearson.
Wang, W., & Lumb R. (2012). Integrating Eastern programme features in Western community policing: Balancing individual freedom and collective wellbeing.
Lowe, T., & Innes, M. (2012). Can we speak in confidence? Community intelligence and neighbourhood policing v2.0 Policing & Society, 22, 295-316.
Terpstra, J., (2011). Governance and accountability in community policing. Crime Law Soc Change, 55, 87–104. doi:10.1007/s10611-011-9272-y
Klinenberg, E. (2001). Bowling Alone, Policing Together. Social Justice, 28(3), 75-80.
Community Policing Defined - COPS (n.d.)
The Public Strategies Group. (n.d.). Joseph Brann | Public Strategies Group, Retrieved from http://psg.us/team/joseph-brann/
Miami-Dade County. (2014). Community Information and Outreach - 3-1-1 Answer Center, Retrieved from http://www.miamidade.gov/information/311.asp
Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.
In order for the police to successfully prevent crimes, public cooperation is needed. Various community policing programs have been implemented and it is important to discuss the benefits and limitations of these programs. Community policing allows the community to be actively involved and become a partner in promoting safety. This partnership increases trust of police officers and helps citizens understand that the police are on their side and want to improve their quality of life (Ferreira, 1996). The role of the police officers goes beyond that of a “crime fighter” and expands to multiple roles including that of a victim-centered
Barker, Thomas, Ronald D. Hunter, and Pamela D. Mayhall. Police Community Relation and Administration of Justice. 4th ed. NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1995
J, Willis & T, Kochel & S Mastrofski. 'The Co-Implementation of Compstat and Community Policing: A National Assessment'. Centre for Justice Leadership and Management. George Mason University. 2010. p. 55.
The researchers, who were based at George Mason University, Arizona State University, Hebrew University and the University of South Wales, sought to better understand the effects of community-oriented policing on crime, disorder, fear, and citizen satisfaction with and trust in the
Oliver, William. (1998). Community-Oriented Policing: A Systemic Approach to Policing (Second edition 2001). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Community policing is a strategy used by various departments in order to create and maintain a relationship between the law enforcement agency and the community being patrolled. Community policing is composed of three critical components, community partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving (Gardiner, 154, 2016). Community partnerships are pivotal in community policing since they increase public trust and create am improved relationship in law enforcement agencies better serving the community (Gardiner, 87, 2016). These partnerships not only offer public input but also encourage the public to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in order to minimize crime within the community (Gardiner, 88, 2016). Unlike, the traditional strategies of policing, community orientated policing has been adopted by two-thirds of agencies in order to improve public safety and control crime. (Gardiner, 148, 2016).
Potter, G. (2013, June 25). The History of Policing in the United States, Part 1. Online Police
This era is where the shift from a centralized task force has gravitated to a decentralized task force, causing some friction from both the community and the officers that serve it. Police are told that they are needed to listen to the concerns for the community; however, law enforcement is still the primary goal. Police forces now have to defend the values for which the forces were built upon. The idea of problem solving has come into question with police discretion towards certain run-ins with the law. Williams and Murphy argue it is due to the lack of sensitivity from minorities and the concern on crime itself than the community. Kelling and Moore contradict Williams and Murphy, with Kelling/Moore suggesting the era is more about listening to concerns of the community and improving the citizen satisfaction. But both the article came to the conclusion of the silent underlying problems that are becoming more of a “quiet riot” with the police and the
...T., Reiner, R. (2012) ‘Policing the Police’ in The Official Handbook of Criminology. Ed. By Maguire, M., Morgan, R., Reiner, R. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 806- 838
Community oriented policing has been around for over 30 years, and promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes, and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem solving tactics. The way community policing works is it requires the police and citizens to work together to increase safety for the public. Each community policing program is different depending on the needs of the community. There have been five consistent key elements of an effective community oriented policing program: Adopting community service as the overarching philosophy of the organization, making an institutional commitment to community policing that is internalized throughout the command structure, emphasizing geographically decentralized models of policing that stress services tailored to the needs of individual communities rather than a one-size-fits-all approach for the entire jurisdiction, empowering citizens to act in partnership with the police on issues of crime and more broadly defined social problems, for example, quality-of-life issues, and using problem-oriented or problem-solving approaches involving police personnel working with community members. Community oriented policing has improved the public’s perception of the police in a huge way. Community policing builds more relationships with the
A decrease in public control has to happen in order to increase social organization within the community. According to Groves (1989), poorer communities have higher petty crime rates due to higher police concentration (p. 776). Groves (1989) also states that the community type changes the actions taken by police (p. 776). In poorer communities, police are more likely to make an arrest, no matter the type of crime committed (Groves, 1989, p. 776). It is easy to conclude that this change in policing causes distrust of the police across the community. The distrust then leads to more social
Community policing allows officers to be actively involved on the streets alongside the community. Their focus is not only to solve crimes but to interact with the people in their neighborhood, establish a rapport with them. This initiative has gained popularity within recent years as the police and leaders of the community pursue more significant ways to promote public safety and to enrich the quality of life of their community members. The police and the citizens often come in contact with each other for a multitude of reasons other than criminal purposes. Police officers often engage in community service by providing an abundance of information for those in need, and they offer educational services at schools and outreach
To conclude, Community policing represents a major development in the history of American law enforcement, but the extent to which this approach is a success and dominates contemporary policing remains a source of debate. In my point of view, community policing is good for communities. It has challenged the traditional concept of the police as crime-fighters by drawing attention to the complexities of the police role and function. In addition to the police officer hard work; citizens can also make a difference and contribute to make neighborhoods a better place to live. For instance, citizens can hold community meetings to talk about concerns and agree on solutions help organize healthy activities for children in your neighborhood, join or starting a neighborhood crime watch program, and talk to your community police officers and share information and concerns.
There are many different ways of policing in the 21st century and all address and apply different theories and ideas to try and control the crime this day in age. One of these methods is called community policing and many law enforcement agencies around our country and the world use it as a model for policing and interacting with communities. Community policing is based on the belief that policing agencies should partner with communities with the goals to prevent or reduce the amount of crime in those areas (Pollock, 2012 p. 99). There are 3 main aspects of community policing that I will talk about in this paper and they are community partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving. After hearing about the