Practical Community Engagement

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).

There are many reasons why the police have a difficult time interacting with the communities they are supposed to protect and serve. These issues did not occur overnight however the string of police involved shootings throughout the United States seems to wedge a bigger gap between the pubic and the police, along with poor communication skills and lack of positive engagement with the community. Police officers deal with many types of people from different cultures and age groups and should be able to adapt no matter where they are. When these officers take an interest in the communities they patrol, there is generally a sense of peace, when officers don’t care and aren’t in sync with the residents residing in the communities the disengagement is apparent. By finding ways to improve the relationship and actually applying them, there may be a chance to bring a positive light back the police-community relationship.

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!

There is recent controversy over police use of force, especially in minority communities such as in African American communities, Hispanic communities, and other publics with large populations of minorities. Increased levels of force among these communities have created challenges for police departments. These challenges include a lack of trust from the community towards law enforcement officers and an absence of respect creating situations that lead to police use of force. There are already various programs in place that attempt to decrease this challenge by educating the public, respecting one another, and giving those who were on the wrong track second chances. A combination of these solutions and the implementation of more of them would decrease the number of contacts between police and minorities that lead to the use of force (Roberg & Novak, 2014).

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.

Riding along with a police officer and interviewing him about his views on crime and behavior produced many insights towards the law enforcement attitude towards crime and behavior. The officer that I interviewed had over twenty years of experience within three law enforcement agencies and served many details from basic patrol to K9 unit to narcotics and courts.

To get the most out of these types of employees, the leaders of these organizations need to be seen as confident, decisive, credible and accomplished (Olson & Simerson, 2015). When the leader can master these items, then he/she will have the support of the officer, and they will be able to share the vision with the organization to help effect the change in the policing practices. When the officers can envision meeting the goal, they will be able to work in collaboration with the community to achieve the defined

Denver Colorado had a problem where the police did not have a positive relationship with the lower status residents in the community. To try to help bridge the gap between lower status residents and police, the Denver Police Department created the Law Enforcement Advocate Program (LEA) (Addison, 2011). The Denver Police Department met with the Denver Juvenile and Family Justice Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities (DJFJ TASC) to try to come up with a plan on how to improve the community’s perception of the police and have the community gain trust in the police. The LEA program consisted of the Denver Police Department and the DJFJ TASC using off-duty police officers to preform home visits and provide advocacy through mentoring

The three articles this week review civic engagement with a focus on income Inequality and trust in the US and European countries. In the first article “Civic Engagement in American Democracy” by Theda Skocpol and Morris Fiorina they review civic engagement inequality based on income level. They believe that participation and the distribution of the participants are critical to ensure there is equality for political policy decisions. The research suggests that people with higher education or income are more political active. With the lower income people having differing concerns this gap in participation means that their voice is not heard even though they benefit from many programs. Due to the participation gap the political parties are

Local law enforcement are an enormous staple of any community. Police departments are usually highly involved with many of the events that a community organizes such as school D.A.R.E programs, fund raisers, or even sporting events. Building a healthy relationship with the community is extremely important. However, when the community begins to notice a change with some of the practices of the police department, most notably targeting specific races in the community for stops, searches, arrest, etc., then tensions can rise. Police operate at the maximum potential when the community they serve is compliant. However, compliance between the two slowly fades when a rift is formed where trust formerly existed. Whereas once parents would tell their children to be respectful towards police, instead they would shape them to be mistrustful of them. One such victim, by the name of Corliss Davies, had the following to say regarding her unfortunate experiences with her local police. “In our life, we see a bunch of stuff go down — people getting beat up by police for no reason, and there ain’t nothing we can do. Who do you report the police to?” (Olorunnipa, 2014) Statistics even show that about 60% of White Americans have trust in the police, whereas only 37% of African Americans have trust in law enforcement. (Olorunnipa, 2014)

Goldstein identified several concerns with modern law enforcement that problem-oriented policing sought to overcome. First was that professional policing’s focus on efficiency had reduced their effectiveness at dealing with problems. Second, agencies were reactive in nature. The focus on response to calls for service left little time for officers to engage in proactive policing strategies. Third, a major resource for law enforcement is the community itself but that partnerships between law enforcement and the community they serve had been severed. Fourth, the top down focus of police management did not provide for enough input from line officers and that their talent was largely going wasted. Fifth, the complexity of police organizations had not been properly recognized and that adjustments were needed for agencies to see greater success.

As a living-learning program promoting community engagement there are many concepts that are simultaneously applied to the VCU ASPiRE community and the communities at which we set to impact. While building the goals of community engagement within the Richmond community and local areas we are also promoting and building the same aspect within the programs community. We live, learn, and engage with in both communities. Which suggest how community engagement concepts relate to the principles that VCU ASPiRE’s community engagement. There are several concepts that I find to be essential to community engagement. ASPiRE itself is a community engagement focused on creating positive change in communities. In the context of VCU ASPiRE, I find Community

There are multiple approaches to engaging a police force with the community in order to most effectively prevent and respond to crime, and considering the relative strengths and weakness of each of these strategic models will demonstrate how models can impact the operation of daily policing practices and activities. The model under discussion here is called community oriented policing (COP), and focuses on building relationships and rapport between officers and the community in order to more effectively prevent crime. It is augmented by a model called problem solving policing (PSP), and depends upon rank-and-file officers identifying community problem areas through direct observation and analysis. Each model excels at slightly different things, and in practice most police agencies deploy a mix of models. By examining the Miami-Dade Police Department's handbook for school resource officers, it will be possible to view a COP/PSP policy in action in order to better understand how these models practically affect policing.

With history as the guiding force, law enforcement agencies must apply the Peel principles to society today. In 2014, President Barack Obama commissioned a Presidential Task Force to help identify problems and offer best practices on how law enforcement agencies can carry out its mission of controlling crime and working with the public to build their trust. Contained within the report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing it is noted that, “Building trust and nurturing legitimacy on both sides of the police/citizen divide is the foundational principle underlying the nature of relations between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.” In the attempt to build on the trust of the community, and in keeping with the recommendations of the President’s task force, many agencies are transforming to become more receptive

There is a perception of distrust between law enforcement and the community. This distrust stems directly from the dangerous words police use when communicating with the community. (Willis, 2015, p.) Simply choosing better words can help build relationships between law enforcement and the community. It is necessary for law enforcement to have trust with their community. There are many things that hinge on the police-community relationships, the ability of law enforcement to perform their duties, are the most important. Law enforcement must be willing to rely on the public to observe the law. They must always demonstrate absolute impartiality to the law.