Community-Based Policing: Law Enforcement for the Twentieth Century

“Community policing is, in essence, a collaboration between the police and the community that identifies and solves community problems” (U.S. Department of Justice, 1994, p. vii). Throughout the years, community policing has become a more popular strategy to help law enforcement officials control and deter crime; however, some areas across the United States has had problems in the past with communities and law enforcement working together to ensure a secure and safe environment. Although it is an officer’s duty to maintain order, keep the peace, and solve problems within the area he or she

Police officers must also work with the communities to form relationships. Community policing is defined as a contemporary approach to policing that actively involves the community in a working partnership to control and reduce crime (Bohm & Haley, 2014). Basically, community policing is a method in which police officers work directly with the people of the community to try and create a positive relationship to find a common ground which in return, would hopefully decrease the amount of criminal activity altogether. Community policing not only helps prevent and reduce crime, but it also helps citizens to see police officers in a different light. Sometimes the only encounter an individual has with an officer is when receiving a ticket or when an arrest is made, which can carry a negative connotation.

Wycoff, M., and W. Skogan (1993). Community Policing: Quality from inside out An evaluation of Impact. Washington D.C.:U.S. National Institute of Justice.

The third and present day era of policing is Community Policing. Community policing is an organization-wide philosophy and management approach that promotes community, government and police partnerships; proactive problem solving; and community engagement to address the causes of crime, fear of crime and other community issues (Hess, Wrobleski pg. 10). Community policing goes beyond the traditional policing from the previous eras. Officers are assigned to designated areas, in which they get to know the citizens of the neighborhoods they are assigned. They use a more effective means of patrol such as foot patrol, and bicycle patrol. They do not just patrol around in vehicles, and respond to service calls. This goes back to one of Peel’s principles, “Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public. The police must obtain a more involved relationship with the citizen of a community in order for the community to help the police with their patrolling to deter crime.

In cities and towns across the country, tragic deaths of citizens in confrontations with police have have spiked a wave of distrust for law enforcement. The bad perception for law enforcement is unfair to the officer’s who are dedicated, and mean well in their duties, yet unfortunately, it has created tension between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. Due to the recent deaths and confrontations, reform proposals and new policies have been a national conversation to implement new initiatives to strengthen the bonds between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. Although, confrontations between law enforcement and citizens in the community have spiked, the concept of community policing is not new. Throughout the years the philosophy of community policing has been to

Community style policing is often described as a “philosophy” in which law enforcement and their officers work to build personal relationships with members of the community, according to The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The goal

Community policing is explained as a collaboration of community and the police working together to help identify and solve criminal activities. Additionally, the whole concept behind it is to promote public safety and to enhance the quality of life within the neighborhoods in which we reside in. Community policing is composed of two major components which are community partnership and problem solving. Community policing is a program that was initially started in the 1940’s. All of the support that was released for this program was materialized actually in the 1980’s. One of the main goals if not the most important goal was to bring in the law enforcement closer to their local public to help

The Community Policing era has been one of the contemporary police activities in the last 30 years. It is more of a decentralized approach to reducing crime by involving the same officer in the same community on a long term basis, so residents will develop trust and then provide information and assistance to the officer. Community Policing does not replace motorized patrol or other police tactics but instead compliments them with community partnership and problem solving (Bailey, 2011).

Community Policing took a different perspective on crime than August Vollmer. It shows that even though police officers are trained and respond to crimes on time, it doesn’t effect the crime rates. In the past foot-patrol was in place but it quickly failed due to poor management and not enough funds for the program (Bohm & Haley, 2014, Pg. 147). Community Policing was an idea to form a bond between the police and the citizens. If the police paid more attention to the minor problems in

Although many may find community policing and problem-oriented policing to fall in the same category, there is (surprisingly) a difference between the two. For one, community policing has many definitions. For some, it means instituting foot and bicycle patrols and doing acts pertaining to the ideal bond between police officers and their community. While for others it means maintaining order and cleaning up neighborhoods in desperate need of repair (Dunham & Alpert, 2005). However, an idyllic definition of community policing is altering the traditional definition of crime control to community problem-solving and promising to transform the way police do their job. Within the past two decades, there has been much research on community

Well first and foremost we have the Political Era, this era which was from 1840s to the 1930s. Strengths of this era are common to what we strive for in community policing today, for example in this era the police sought out a very close relationship with the community. Because of the tith act, which required every male to enroll for police duty in a group of families within a community, the police had a lot of man power which was a tremendous benefit for the “wards” (Miller, L., Hess, K., & Orthmann, C. 2005). With the tithing system this established the principals of collective responsibility for maintaining local law and order within their community or “ward” (Miller & all). One of the most important strengths but also a weakness was that the police officers lived within the community in which they

The focus of community-oriented policing is not simply on response, but on preventing crime and resolving community problems. This philosophy rests on the belief that the police and the community must work together as partners to solve the contemporary challenges faced in today 's society. (Community Policing Philosophy)

Community-Oriented Policing involves giving the Community it serves a voice in how the Police Department a voice, a powerful voice in the daily operations. In the traditional model of Policing, the police drive policy and methodology while the community has few options if they are dissatisfied with the level of service aside from legal suits and political pressure. Recent police involved shootings and excessive force allegations across the United States involve various Police Departments claiming to have implemented Community-Oriented Policing have still resulted in public displeasure. I am going to compare three metropolitan police departments: Chicago, New York City and Houston who are all listed in our textbook Oliver, 2008 as having Community-Oriented Police programs and compare how they address Use of Force issues at the various departments and how effectively they involve the Communities they serve.

Community policing was defined as “police officers working with community members to address the causes of crime and to prevent crimes from occurring, rather than just responding to crimes after they have occurred.” Officers and the community benefitted with improved attitudes

Approaches of both community policing and traditional policing models differ in a variety of ways. The characteristics of the policing models are quite different from each other, and community based policing was considered laughable when suggested for the new approach in the early 1970s. Due to community policing’s new operating beliefs, new and unfamiliar expected officer behaviors, and that officers were being held legally responsible for their actions and inactions; the idea and implementation wasn’t widely accepted until 1980’s. Traditional policing was primarily dominated by rampant corruption and lawlessness that affected all levels of the police administration; therefore citizens had little trust if any, in the police officers of the time.