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Citizens relationship with law enforcement
History and strategies of community police
Diversity in community
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President’s Task Force on 21 Century(2015), states community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that 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. In my opinion, successful community policing initiatives involve transformational changes within the organizational structure and how day to day operations are handled. Furthermore, things such as a change in management policies, command structure, and training can help officers adjust to the community they have been sworn to protect.
One can agree that crime fighting is incorporated into the goals of community policing by empowering folks to reinforce the laws “see something say something” slogan is one example. According to IACP(2015) civilians comprise as much as 30 to 50% of the staff of many police departments. These folks can serve in support roles such as administration, dispatch recordkeeping and crime scene techs. The good thing about using community citizens in a department is one it frees up sworn officers to be out on the streets more and secondly, it promotes togetherness
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One could agree, community policing should be focused on changing the way in which citizens respond to police in more constructive and proactive ways. A few things should be recommended changing the departments policy especially those folks of color, working with schools to provide the right information to the youth but give them positive reinforcement in a collective effort all will help with crime reduction personal pride in one community and
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
However, after reading the article the author noted that police are mandated to enforce civilian law and order, investigate crimes, and strictly follow legal procedures even when in pursuit of chronic and dangerous criminals (Kagoro, 2014). Ideally, it has been argued, there should be strict dividing lines between the police and the military; the former for domestic purposes with the latter protecting citizens from external threats (Kagoro, 2014). In his article on the anti-militarization of the police in the United States, Kurt Andrew Schlichter aptly put it that the military is designed, organized, and equipped to execute rapid, violent and efficient obliteration of the “enemy”-whoever the enemy may be ( Kagoro, 2014). However, the law enforcement is usually modeled after the military and in fact there a large number of police officers who are former military personnel. This was a new criticism of police that was unfamiliar to me in the study of criminal justice but, I found it to be a valid point. The idea of changing the focus of policing to be less of a battlefield and more of a community may be a compelling approach to make interaction with citizens less
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).
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
An article on DiscoverPolicing.org describes the role of sworn officers as “dealing with community based problems rather than specific crimes or incidents is the core of police work.” This would mean that their most important job is maintaining the community as a whole and dealing with the safety and welfare of the people within it. It goes on to explain that while crime fighting is part of the job, it is not a very common one; therefore it is not the most important and vital role police officers posses. This type of policing is a community minded style. However, an article in the Houston Chronicle (work/chron.com) says that the top two most crucial tasks of a law enforcement officer are 1 to serve and protect, and 2 to investigate crimes. This is a slightly different outlook focusing more on crime and arrests in order to protect the community. The article states that what makes crime and arrests most important, is the need to keep drugs off of the streets and out of the hands of civilians. That in its self should be a number one priority for
Do communities have the desire to see more community policing efforts? There has been numerous documents composed of the history, the development, and the elements of community policing. Research endeavors have sought to measure the effectiveness of community policing. There is documentation stating that police noticed a need for a new way of interacting with the public so law enforcement officials developed community policing. However, literature over whether or not individuals want law enforcement officers conducting community policing activities is lacking. The purpose of this research would be to measure whether or not individuals want police officers participating in community policing efforts or participating in more traditional police
Community based policing can best be defined as, 'a collaborative effort between the police and the community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems' (Sykes). Community based policing is the idea that the role of the police is not that of catching 'bad guys,' but more that of serving the public. In order for community based policing to have an effect, the presence of crime isn?t needed, in fact it?s often more effective without the involvement of crime, ?Modern police departments are frequently called upon to help citizens resolve a vast array of personal problems--many of which involve no law-breaking activity? (Schmalleger). The role of the police officer in community based policing, is to have an active part in the community. This can be something as simple as stopping in at a school just to talk to the kids, or...
Community policing stresses the entire cooperation between members of the police force and the community. It necessitates that everyone in the police force, including both civilian officers and sworn personnel, understands that the focus is on resolving community problems, and in doing so, may challenge the everyday policing norms.
Community policing was found to be effective in building stronger relationships between community and police which in turn decreased fear. But despite having the potential of being a great innovation, some flaws have been found. Community policing was found to be more effective if more officers complied with recommended aspect as an organizational transformation instead of treating it as an “add-on”. Also, research found there was a percentage of the community who did not engage in efforts to work with local organizations which is one of the crucial aspects of the community policing program. As for Problem-oriented policing, it too has been successful in carrying out it objective and has proven to be effective in determining community obstacles but also in a limited manner.
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
If law enforcement does not find a way to change this for the kids growing up they are going to have to keep dealing with conflict from communities especially the minority communities. Community policing has shown to improve African american Latinos, and whites views on policy effectiveness demeanor and responsiveness in some cities (Skogan & Steiner, 2004). This brings minorities and police closer and can improve relations. When communities have high crime rates most citizens do want heightened levels of enforcement, but along with the police being fair and respectful in their tactics (Tyler, 2004), this is a strategy that can be promoted by community policing and is a way to combat crime along with improving quality of life. Innovations of policing came because studies, like the Kansas CIty experiment that showed that traditional policing really didn't work.
The key aspects to community policing involve having officers working in permanent neighborhoods, the involvement of citizens to identify problems and have potential solutions, and the reliance on agencies to help locate issues. The cornerstone of the program is the citizen interaction with the police. It is reported that communities that receive community policing funds have reduced levels of violent and property crimes, also has a greater number of arrests. Successful partnership helps with the reduction of gang and drug activities, area crime rate, and the improvement of the relationship between law enforcement and
One of the recommendations were that law enforcement agencies should develop and adopt policies and strategies that reinforce the importance of community engagement in managing public safety (pg. 42). Law enforcement agencies cannot reduce crime or prevent crimes or shootings by themselves. They need the community to step up and assist the officers throughout the community. The residents of the community are the key individuals to deter crime, the people in the neighborhoods see everything first hand. Another recommendation that all law enforcement agencies should enforce is that community policing should be a part of the business. It should be a must within the agencies mission statement. Community policing should not be a specialized unit that is designated to work with the community. Community policing should take place in each and every department or division; starting with the Chief’s office to the training division (pg. 43). An extremely important recommendation is that community policing requires that neighborhood residents to assist with public safety. Law enforcement officers should go out to civic leagues within the community to collaborate trying to find solutions that will provide results for the community and the law enforcement agencies (pg. 45). The Cincinnati’s community policing is ranked pretty high in the area. Officers are seen throughout the neighborhoods where homes are crumbling down, where the homeless population is hanging out on the streets. About 50 officers are dedicated to community-oriented policing duties (Shaffer,
Community Oriented Policing has always been a topic that comes up in the Criminal Justice Department time after time. There are always ways to improve the traditions of the community and the officers not respecting each other. Community-Oriented Policing is based around relationships. Community police supports the use of partnerships and problem-solving methods in order to give a statement regarding the rise of public safety, dealing with crime, community ordinance, and fear of crime. In community-oriented policing the following are all assigned roles in order to increase their relationships: community, police, and chief of police. All have different assignments and tasks they should follow to assure that they are making efforts to gain trust