Strengthening Police-Community Relations through Community Policing Strategies

“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

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.

Community policing has evolved to be the most used strategy for policing. “It is an approach to crime detection and prevention that provides police officers and supervisors with new tools for addressing recurrent problems that plague communities and consume a majority of police agency time and resources” (Peak, 2012, 65). It has been defined by various people differently. But all the definitions have similar principles (Chappell, 2009). They focus on proactive problem solving and create relationships with the community to address any issue that may arise. Community policing is a combination of client-oriented and problem-oriented policing.

Law Enforcement within the United States is limited as many people may feel that it is a dangerous job. With law enforcement being so limited there is one way the community can and has assisted throughout the years. Community policing is the system of allocating police officers to particular areas so that they become familiar with the local inhabitants. In other words community policing allows law enforcement to be at high profile areas while the community who chooses to be involved is the eyes and ears for law enforcement. In other words were there is crime the community will

Community policing is where law enforcement officers become familiar with the surrounding community and the surrounding citizens that live there. This was created so that the surrounding community and law enforcement officers can become sort of like a family unit of closeness in order to create a safe environment to live in, to try and reduce the crime rate within the surrounding area, to try and reduce the fear of law enforcement officers, gain the respect and trust that is needed/wanted and lastly to try and reduce the fear that citizens may have towards the community they live in.

The policy and problem identified in this policy analysis recognized the significance of the problem. Their goal was to address the issue of deterrence, public safety, and restoring neighborhoods to a safe environment for kids and the elderly to live. The plan outlines challenges for interactions with local residents and attracting more business to make the area a desirable place for residents and visitors to patronize. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of police foot patrol as a means of deterrence through apprehension and as a means of risk reduction, community and problem oriented policing, high crime neighborhood hot spots, and violence prevention.

In community oriented policing, it is essential for officers to have a good rapport built with the citizens in the community. In order of the officers to be able to do their job affectively, it is essential that the officers have the trust and respect of the community. In Leadership, Ethics and Policing (2nd ed.), Ortmeier and Meese state that police organizations utilizing the community oriented policing procedures are more likely to commit serious ethical violations due to the increased amount of discretion, as well as the use of creative policing techniques. They go on to further state that this discretion can lead to discrimination during enforcement of the laws. Additionally, the more vocal personnel in the group may consider themselves the spokesperson for a certain community, and officers must identify those personnel and determine if their interests are what are best for the community. Given the trust placed in an officer’s hands, unethical and sometimes criminal behavior results as a conscious act on behalf of the officer. Peer pressure, social factors, psychological factors are the fundamental basis of the misconduct of officers, not to mention the unwillingness to violate the code of silence between fellow officers

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

These types of community involvement foster the positive growth and relations that are needed to ease the tensions with law enforcement. These programs help build trust and can give the community a sense of security. However, incidents such as excessive force can tear away any sense of unity that the aforementioned programs build. In an incident that

Community policing techniques may vary from suburban communities and inner cities because of the demographics of the regions. Community policing in suburban communities can certainly contribute to a greater decrease in crime because of the close quarters police officers have with the members of the community. Community policing is designed as a proactive approach in reducing crime in the community. A collaborative relationship between law enforcement and individuals only strengthens the trust with the police. Indeed this relationship is embedded in suburban areas because policer officers are constantly personalizing their response calls. In addition, Law enforcement agencies in suburban community may rely on more financial base resources in contributing to the infrastructure of neighborhoods. For example, policies are implemented in renovating after school programs for the better of the community. Many police officers

Initiating community-oriented policing is about partnerships and building trust in communities between law enforcement and the citizens in the community (Bull, 2015). According to Bull (2015), community policing has shifted from a centralized bureaucratic command to a collaborative style of problem-solving crime and disorder through programs and activities within the community. To be effective, community policing requires the trust of the citizens. According to Schlosser, Cha-Jua, Valgoi, and Neville (2015), The Law Enforcement Code of Ethic states that the duties of a police officer are to serve humankind, safeguard lives and property, protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against

Hi Nick, I like the approach that you are taking by identifying what the neighborhoods are doing to keep it safe and see the conditions of the homes. There are a lot of different outcomes and just because it works in one area, does not mean it will work in another. Although, studying what Portland neighborhoods are doing that Gresham neighborhoods are not would be one approach, even thought it will most likely have a different effect. I think it is a great idea to get the other local police departments together to learn and share ideas on what works in their community. This way the police officers can learn new tactics that can try implementing into their

Preventing crime is not only a concern for the police department, it is also a concern for the citizens. This principle places emphasis on each to do their part within the community to prevent crime. References Dempsey, J. S., & Forst,

This sharing of information leads to an increased detection rate, increasing police’s efficiency and a trustful relationship are formed between the police and the community (Evans, 2016). Examples of the consensus model of policing can be seen which ranges from Neighbourhood watch, community policing and problem-oriented policing. Neighbourhood watch schemes in the United Kingdom refers to the collaboration between the residents of the neighbourhood and the police to make their neighbourhood safer (Bennett, Holloway and Farrington, 2006). The residents helped to watch out for each other and reports any suspicious activity to the police in creating a more secure and safe neighbourhood to live in (Bennett, Holloway and Farrington, 2006). Community policing refers to the shift of focus towards resolving the local needs and priorities of the community and in return, the community is required to play its role in providing information and work hand in hand with the police in solving crimes and social disorder (Pandey, 2014).

A study that focused on a increase in meetings of the police and the community resulted in no decrease in victimization in the targeted community (Wycoff & Skogan, 1993). A study increased foot patrols showed no decrease in crime in the area (Police Foundation, 1981). A study done on newsletters focusing on crime data did not reduce crime or vcimitaptzion among the reciepents of the letter in both Houston and Newark (Pate, A. M, Lavrakas, P. J., Wycoff, M. A., Skogan, W. G., & Sherman, L. W., 1985). A study showed that neighborhoods of poverty had neighborhood watch programs that were less effective (Bennet, 1990). A neighborhood block watch had no impact on victimization and or crime (Pate, A. M., McPherson, M., & Silloway,