Expanding Accountability Reflection

In reviewing the performance of a police officer we often find that supervisors choose to use easy methods of ratings that are outdated and often have little impact on the organizational goals that we are seeking to achieve. Supervisors often seek to quantify officer performance by using the number of tickets they issued or how many individuals they arrested in their performance review, but often these numbers only review levels of enforcement and not actions that respond to the causes of crime (Peak, Gaines, & Glensor, 2009). If we simply review the number of police actions that are taken we are unable to effectively account for the reasons why some officers have more citations or arrests than others. The reason why an officer has lower numbers

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 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

Law Enforcement officers have one of the most critical jobs in the United States. Their lives are always on the line and they are of high regards. This means they cannot fail! The results of their jobs do not only depend on their actions but also on the people. What this means is the community has a huge role when it comes to solving crime. Though many people may not believe it, they are the key to a successful crime prevention community. The people of the United States don’t really understand both the positive and negative effects that community policing actually brings. Some may say it is very dangerous based on their experiences. Others may say it’s the best way to do away with crime. Today the two will be compared and put to test by true officers serving our country. The facts will be stated and questions will be answered. Let’s take a look at what community policing is really all about!

The nation was jarred by events that occurred in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri; Staten Island, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; and in 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. These events which followed officer-involved incidents in these American cities and around the nation exposed deep divides between communities and their police departments. As the discord reached a fever pitch, law enforcement agencies nationwide began the process of self-evaluation, reflecting on policies and practices and implementing innovative strategies to better engender community policing principles, build trust, and allay fear.

One thing I realized after learning about police reform efforts in Chicago was that this process may have started with revolutionary ideas and passion and determination, but truly changing the police infrastructure requires stamina and the willingness to endure countless mistakes and attempt to fix them along the way. The grand idea itself, i.e. justice for those who experienced discrimination and brutality as a result of unjust policing practices, is powerful. Reformers and activists should never forget that. However, as the countless court rulings against the efforts of reformers and the repeated acquittals of policemen have shown, relying on an idea alone is not pragmatic or practical, and it is up to the activists to garner continued interest

The Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing states, “In order to achieve external legitimacy, law enforcement agencies should involve the community in the process of developing and evaluating policies and procedures.” To that end, a vital link to the community can be achieved through the formation of a citizen advisory board. The board should be a cross section of the community with representatives from the general citizenry, business owners, faith community, educational professionals and other stakeholders who represent the interest of the public. With the formation and input of a citizen advisory committee, law enforcement executives do not relieve themselves of their legal operational control of the agency but

There is an overwhelming issue in law enforcement today involving police and community relations. President Barak Obama established this task force to research and discover potential trouble areas in law enforcement today. As we have placed our faith in the members present in this task force there are many areas of focus. However, my goal is to focus on Community Policing and Crime Reduction strategies such as the Broken Windows Theory, Media Relations, and the responsibility of stakeholders.

Resistance to change is commonplace in law enforcement, which comprises any attempts at reform. Critics of law enforcement reform are the bystanders or silent supporters who stand by, watching their peers intentionally harm others (Stamper, 2005). A large part of the problem with police reform efforts, are ineffective or poor leadership that fails to establish a clear vision in order to influence change efforts (Stojkovic, Kalinich, & Klofas, 2015). Law enforcement leaders often face considerable resistance to changing the cultural landscape within their respective agencies and thus they acquiesce to the status quo. This stasis mindset has continued to dominate law enforcement agencies, who have gone against scholars by continuing to promote

The success of implementing a program like this requires that both parties be well informed and well educated on the changes that will take place. One of the first steps is to market the concept of community policing both internally (within the department), as well as externally(within the community).  Marketing community policing internally often involves collapsing the existing structures of authority that are in place as well as the specialization within the department.  The case study mentioned that although the senior administrators in the department played a critical role in the reform, it was also necessary that line level officers be active participants in the process.  After all, two important components of community policing are empowerment and ownership.  Officers were given ownership of certain areas that were

Police need to be held more accountable, we must also recognize and work to eliminate officers that abuse their power and create a culture that doesn’t support that behavior in any fashion (Caless & Tong, 2013; Davis, 2016). Requests made of leadership are frequently irrelevant either to the will of the general population or to police viability; they may concern some private political plan, or be misleading regarding what the police can really do (Caless & Tong, 2013). The absence of being held accountable as well as lack of leadership has created many instances with abuses of power, including malfeasance and unnecessary use of deadly force (Hays et al., 2003). In the 20th century, police chiefs were faced with have been

The evaluation and analysis focuses on the intelligent based police that is vital in today’s law enforcement. Law enforcement is facing complex challenges around the nation and we need to proactive in addressing them. By focusing on community policing, transparency and professionalism we can meet and address these challenges together.

Two significant obstacles were identified as hindering change within law enforcement agencies. The first is the presence of a resistance to change within the police subculture. Research supports the presence of this powerful force that leads officers to easily dismiss efforts to influence their behavior if they determine the efforts to not have value. A second major obstacle is that agencies have been slow to adopt successful plans to implement change within their organization. While efforts to try new strategies have taken place, too often the bureaucracy of agencies

There have been many issues in the police force talked about in this paper and possible solutions have been discussed on how to rectify the problems. This is because police, like everyone else, need to be held accountable for their actions. Police officers have to be responsive to the citizens they are sworn to serve (Goff, 2011, p. 197) because they tend to deviate from the policies they have made and the law (Chambers, 2012, p. 790).

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.