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Philosophy of Community Policing
Philosophy of Community Policing
Philosophy of Community Policing
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Recommended: Philosophy of Community Policing
Social scientists such as Herman Goldstein, James Wilson, and George Keeling present many points of view on how community policing should reduce crimes and how the police should improve community policing. These social scientists’ theories will be examined to determine the best strategies to keep the public in New York safe.
In Herman Goldstein’s essay, he identified five ways of improving community relations: these are refining police functions and public expectations, getting involved in the substance of policing, rethinking the relationship between the police and the criminal justice system, searching for alternatives, and changing the working environment in a police agency. To me, the most important among these ways is refining police functions
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Each of these theories has their advantages and disadvantages. As regards the relationship between the police and the community, there has to be one common goal, and that is to keep the public safe. Goldstein, H. (1993). The new policing: confronting complexity. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.
Godown, J Police Chief Magazine - View Article. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=print_display&article_id=1859&issue_id=82009
The Economist explains: What “broken windows” policing is ... (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/01/economist-explains-18
Maple, J., & Mitchell, C. (2000). The crime fighter: How you can make your community crime free. New York: Broadway Books
Remick, D. THE CRIME BUSTER - The New Yorker. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/02/24/the-crime-buster
Dussault R. Jack Maple: Betting on Intelligence - Government Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Bender, L David, and Bruno Leone. Criminal Justice: opposing viewpoints. St. Paul, Minnesota: Greenhaven Press, 1981. Print.
Hickey, T. J. (2010). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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
Peak, K. J. (2006). Views. In K. J. Peak, Policing America: Methods/Issues/Challenges (p. 263). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Muraski , R. & Roberts. A.R. 2009. Visions for Change: Crime and Justice in the Twenty-First Century, 5th ed. UpperSaddle River, NJ. Pearson/Prentice Hall.
American policing originated from early English law and is profoundly influenced by its history. Early law enforcement in England took on two forms of policing, one of which heavily influenced modern policing and it is known as the watch (Potter, 2013). The watch consisted, at first, of volunteers which had to patrol the streets for any kind of disorder including crime and fire. After men attempted to get out of volunteering by paying others, it became a paid professional position (Walker & Katz, 2012). The three eras of policing in America are shaped by these early ideas and practices of law enforcement. Throughout time, sufficient improvements and advancements have been made from the political era to the professional era and finally the community era which attempts to eliminate corruption, hire qualified officers and create an overall effective law enforcement system.
Schmalleger, F. (2009), Prentice Hall, Publication. Criminal Justice Today: An introductory Text for the 21st century
In order to have effective policing I believe integrity and ethics play a huge part in helping build trust within communities. Sound conduct by police improves community interactions, enhances communication, and promotes shared responsibility for addressing crime and disorder. There are three ways that police departments can strengthen community relationships just by training officers about procedural justice, bias reduction, and racial reconciliation. If we implement these concepts, we can create an environment in which effective partnerships between the police and citizens can flourish.
Throughout the history of law enforcement different models have been introduced and implanted in an effort to reduce and deter crime. The most popular model today is community oriented policing. Community oriented policing has been defined numerous ways and can be describe using a variety of different programs and services. Although there is not one generalized idea of what community oriented policing is all who practice the model share the same underlying principle of bringing the community and police together to criminal and social problems in the affected neighborhoods (Oliver, 1998). Even though this model of policing has become more popular than the traditional model and it has evolved since its origins there is still a lot of debate about its effectiveness. In reviewing other academic works on community oriented policing I hope to identify whether or not it is effective in reducing crime and if it is effective in agency investigation practices. If it is effective, I would like to identify whether it is universally effective or if it only reduces a specific type of crime. If research does not prove effectiveness of the model I would like to identify why it is not effective and possible solutions to make it more effective.
Kappeler, V.E. & Gaines, L.K. (2009). “Community policing: a contemporary perspective.” Fifth Edition. Newark, NJ: Matthew Bender & Company.
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
Understanding the issue is just part of what’s needed. The purpose of the section is to identify a solution, or as may be the case, solutions. So, the question here is what can we do to improve the relationship between the police and the citizens. Over the years there has been many books written and studies conducted, all in an effort to find the best way to improve police and citizen relationships. To do this we must look at all available information. According to The Study Circles Resource Center’s Protecting Communities, Serving the Public: Police and residents building relationships to work together (2000), “Bring police and community together. We need to meet not just when there is a crisis or a big crime. We should do things to build relationships that are not so full of conflict. Then it would be easier to work together. We can build respect and trust for one another when we make time to meet with and learn about each other. This is the only way to do it.
By both parties working together, they can improve the quality of the community by organizing meetings with the police department as well as answer questions that a serious incident that occurred in their neighborhoods. Researchers determined that traditional policing continue to be a widespread throughout the twentieth century and still creates an traiditonal importance on the law enforcement departments (Ferrandino,