The Importance Of Community Police Protection

Police protection is the most significant responsibility of local government, at least in terms of the economic resources it takes to protect its citizens. Keeping citizens safe is the role of the government, whether at the national level or local level. Community policing utilize a proactive approach in developing ongoing relationships with citizens in an effort to engage them in helping fighting crime in their communities. Officers have a presence in the community and organize and attend community meetings to engage the public to serve their needs. This allows for better coordination and conformity when decisions are made. Decisions are made with the best information available and are consistent with rational economic and social awareness.

This policy shift can achieve the desired effect of lower rates of incarceration for offenders of minor crimes and the ripple effect may lead to positive outcomes in community policing relationship. Through decriminalization and lower incarceration rates local policing philosophies align with fledgling movements in the criminal justice and social service systems that seek to make difficult but cost-efficient decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources (Palow, 2012 p.1196). Community policing thus embraces collaboration with various community stakeholders: neighborhood groups, grass-roots organizations, property owners, businesses, other government officials and agencies, and the like. In making common cause, the community can define its social norms and values (Palow, 2012 p.1199). Failures in neighborhoods associated to social disorders spurred policing responses that sought to crack down on low-level criminal offenses to stop their proliferation, escalation, or both. Policing strategies target both social and physical disorder. Social disorder includes loitering, vandalism, gangs, public drinking, drug dealing, prostitution, and street harassment. Physical disorder encompasses building abandonment, graffiti, litter on the streets and sidewalks, abandoned cars, junk and garbage in vacant lots, and the like (Palow, 2012 p.1203). In response to these social disorders, policies were made to target these lesser degrees of social and physical disorders. Failed policy and the passage of vague laws by the legislature lead to the fundamental mistrust of communities and the local police departments. Commitment must be clear and observable to all and must be irreversible (Aikins, 2015). The failure of policing in communities through