Police Community Relations Essay

Society in general have showed the distrust, protests and many questions for the like hood of the police profession. The reputation of the police profession is that of the 6 pillars of policing in the modern world as outlined by the President’s Task Force on the 21st Century Policing, which sought to recommend steps forward. Under the banners of ‘Building Trust and Legitimacy’, ‘Policy and Oversight’, ‘Technology and Social Media’, ‘Community Policing and Crime Reduction’, ‘Officer Training and Education’, and ‘Officer Safety and Wellness’ – here are concise definitions for each one and what they mean for American policing ("Final report of the resident’s task force on 21st century policing," 2015).

One of the barriers that hinder law enforcement from doing an effective and thorough job within the community is communication. Communication is the most important thing to have in any kind of relationship. Where I am from the police go to the least privileged neighborhoods and the talk with the people. Do get me wrong when you are doing something that is against the law, you will be held accountable for your actions. (Schneider, S. R. (n.d.)

When discussing how exposure to community policing can affect low economic neighborhoods, one must ask what is community policing? Miller, Hess, and Orthmann (2014) stated, it is a philosophy or orientation that emphasizes working proactively with citizens to reduce fear, solve crime-related problems, and prevent crime. Community policing can be a positive change in the community and for the law enforcement personnel that serves the community. An important concept to always remember is that the police are the community, and the community are the police (Miller et al., 2014). To successfully integrate this into police departments, we must examine several factors that have made police departments what they are today, what are ways to implement this new form of policing without resistance from law enforcement and citizens, and how community policing can affect the community and the work of law enforcement in the long run.

But whether it’s Rockford or Spokane cities are struggling with violent crime, policing has become a trust problem. Cities have been experimenting with such high-profile ideas as CompStat, quality-of-life policing and predictive policing. We have come full circle now and police departments are revisiting community policing. Cities like Rockford hopes to embed more officers in troubled neighborhoods (Buntin

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!

Cooperation from members of the public is important in order for police officers to effectively fight crime within the community. In order to obtain cooperation from members of the public, police officers must gain their trust and confidence. It has been known that African Americans and Hispanics have lower levels of trust and confidence in police because of racial disparities and racial profiling. This paper will discuss the public opinion of police by different ethnic groups and how racial minorities hold lower levels of trust and confidence in police.

Although the economic environment and social relationships have changed, police officers remain the centerpiece and foundation of civil law enforcement — but without community support and trust, they will never be capable of doing their job effectively. Public trust is the cornerstone of successful policing, the currency by which they are allowed to operate. One act of misconduct, perceived or otherwise, reflects wholly on the department and is one of the most substantial hurdles to overcome as an active stakeholder within the community, not an enemy of it. Strong leadership can steer the department through adverse periods of municipal distrust by fostering a culture from within that promotes openness, fairness, and high ethical standards. Creating buy-in from internal stakeholders establishes a strong foundation and promotes esprit de corps, upon which a very successful strategic communication and outreach campaign to external stakeholders (latent, expectant, and definitive) will thrive and ensure widespread support.

Law enforcement officers tend to abuse their power due to the fact that a stronger deviant motivation often give rise to greater deviant opportunity and weaker social control. Grabiner (2016) stated, “Corruption in policing, generally aims towards the poor and working individual and has specific racial dimension” (para. 3). Citizen involvement in policing needs to take a different turn and become more noticeable. The biggest issue is undoubtedly corruption of the law enforcement process. The amelioration of community relations requires not only instituting programs and changing procedure and practices, but re-examining fundamental attitudes. Law enforcement officers have to listen patiently and understandingly to people who are openly critical

I believe that it’s very important for law enforcement agencies to focus on community policing. When officers have good relationships with the communities that they serve, it makes solving crimes more manageable and develops more of an intimate bond between the agency and community.

It has been consistently shown in research that minorities are more likely to be mistreated by the police compared to other people (Dunnaville, 2000). Recent incidents have seen the police use excessive force on people and mistreat minorities. As such, the legitimacy of the police has been put under scrutiny and questioned. Many communities in the United States have demonstrated in reaction to recent incidents of police misconduct and excessive use of force. The people have lost trust in the police because of these issues. The police force has been accused of mistreating people, sexual harassment, violent and careless arrests among people particularly the minorities. As demonstrated in the movie ‘Policing the Police’ police officers are seen mistreating people for instance the scene where the police sexually harassed a teenager by touching sensitive areas. Community members are not willing to trust or work with the police to fight crime. As such, it is critical for the police agencies and department to make improving police-community relationship a top police priority. Policies should be developed that will strengthen the mutual trust between the police and the community. This relationship is critical because the police depend on information from the community to fight crime in the society.

A strong relationship between any two groups of people will always create the best results. Cultivating a relationship based on mutual respect, trust and the determination in working together towards a safer and healthier environment are some of the positive effects when law enforcement and a community band together. Scoville argues that “the patrol officer is the backbone of American society” if that is the case then community policing is its cartilage.

Occurrences of police violence create public fear and distrust of law enforcement, predominantly among minority communities and in areas where police misconduct has happened in the past. Police community tension may exist. Improved relations between law enforcement and citizens will reestablish trust in the communities. Police efforts may enhance cooperation.

Community policing as a concept is mainly about allowing the community a voice in determining the priorities law enforcement. Allen & Sawhney (2015) defines community police as collaborative effort between police and the community they serve to customize the delivery of police services (p. 307). In order to utilize the community policing approach, it is important for agencies to have a strong bond and trust with the community they serve. Without this trust, creative policing innovations fall short. Despite what shortcomings the approach to policing may have for law enforcement, the popularity of community led or community based policing is on the rise in America. American law enforcement as an industry faces a never-ending public relations crisis, especially during the onset of tough on crime approaches prevalent in of the last forty years. Within the two decades, community police strategies based on bringing key stakeholders together to

For the people of the community to have trust in the officers of the law, change needs to take place. A solution is to allow police officers, one hour a day just to visit their local community. They will have the time to communicate with the members of the community. By doing this, it reinforces the relationship between police officers and the community. Furthermore, if the police officers learn other cultures besides their own, they will have a better understanding of other people's habits, cultures, and customs. It will also improve how the community perceives police officers within their community, and this will help the communities view officers of the

Although the police are, for the most part, respected here in Victoria, Texas, there are always more things to be done in order to effectively create a solid relationship with the ones who protect and the ones who need protection. There continues to be mistrust within the community not only from the public, but from the police regarding the public as well. Through research, I would like to gather data on why people within the public mistrust the police and why the police mistrust the public. Considering this is a local issue within the community the scope of research will be relative to Texas and not go beyond the United States. I will also only include information relevant to this time, and because of that will leave out research conducted before the year 2000. Using this data and analysis I would like to promote good relations as well as effective methods on how to obtain good relations between the public and police. Good relations are vital for police and civilians. The information gathered would benefit both parties greatly and could have positive effects such as less time wasted during traffic stops and less force being required. Some obstacles that may prevent a better relationship from being established would be the individuals, both within the community and within the police department, who are closed-minded and tend to indulge in confirmation bias. Many who already have their mind made up either about the police or about the public, will often stick to their beliefs