Community Policing Over The Last 25 Years - Essay Example

Community policing Community policing in the UK is the answer to crime today. Community policing is defined as, "An effort between the community and the police that identifies troubles of crime and chaos and includes all elements of community in finding out solutions of these problems." Or police that works with help of the community while putting efforts to resolve and prevent crimes. Community police holds officers which are more accountable as compare to the normal police and needs more effectiveness by focusing on the problem solving. Community policing has same officers work in an area on semi-permeate basis. Meaning that citizens have the same officers to see often. By having the same officers all time gives them an identity to the citizens. A police officer is no longer just a badge number, instead he is the person you see standing outside the McDonalds or the guy you talk to while on your walk through the park. Officers become friends to the people. This trust that is built can be very useful to an officer when he has questions about a crime. Currently after 1990 cops don't have the best reputation in many communities, in fact they are often seen as the enemy. This is probably because the only time a person would encounter a police officer is when the cops believe they've done something wrong. If a person is finding himself in situations where he is able to socially interact with a friendly officer his opinion will slowly shift. This same idea applies to the cops as well. Many police officers only see the worst of our society. As a result they begin to build very cynical feelings toward the community. By putting the officers in a situation where they encounter many different people while on patrol many of which do not have bad intentions they develop a broader and more accurate sense of the community. Another benefit to community policing is the idea that if a police officer become familiar with a specific area he will be more likely to be able to identify areas and issues of concern for the community. If people are constantly complaining to him about a graffiti problem he make it a point to look out for that. The people will also be more likely to complain to an officer they know and trust rather than some cop who seems to have "more important" things to do. Seeing the same officers over and over also gives the public an increased feeling of security. They begin to feel they have someone specific to turn to when a crime goes wrong. Officers and the public will begin to take more pride in their community. The police work with neighborhood watch programs and D.A.R.E. programs. Citizens are no longer just incident bystanders to crime they have an active role in preventing it. The idea of community policing doesn't go over easy with all police officers. Many cops feel that this idealistic vision of the police working hand in hand with the community is problem filled. Many cops feel that their job is to fight crime solely. It should not be up to them to take care of many of the tedious jobs that the community will ask of them. Trying to do so will only over extend the force taking away from many of the more important things an officer must concentrate on. These cops fear that the community will become over dependent upon them. A story on concentric.net describes a situation like this, "We got a call the other day for Officer---. This woman's refrigerator quit working, and she had to talk to Officer--- about whom she should get to fix it (Frequently, p. 4)." It is clear sometimes the more you help people the more dependent they become on the help. There is also of the problem of an officer becoming attached to some of the people in his district. His own personal feelings may hinder judgement. An officer may not want to believe that Jimmy is selling drugs, or if he does know he may turn his head the other way. Many citizens have complaints of their own about community policing. There are many people today that simply do not like cops. There are a wide variety of reasons for these anti-law enforcement feelings, but most of them amount to a bad run in with the law. For these people there is little police officers could do to improve their image. These people do not want the cops around all the time. Frank Schmalleger writes in his textbook, "No matter how inclusive community-policing programs become, it is doubtful that the gap between the police and the public will ever be entirely bridged. The police role of restraining behavior which violates the law will always produce friction between police departments and some segments of the community (Schmalleger, 2001. p. 131). " This can have or dont have anything to do with the crime. Many justifiable people do not like to have cops around all the time, it is just an uneasy feeling for them. How would one feel if a cop starts chasing you closely when you are driving? Even if one knows that they had done nothing wrong it will surely leave an upset feeling in the stomach. In fact I would probably become suspicious of any inquiring officer. Clearly an officer's main interest must remain on crime prevention and control, but if a person is willing to not only accept but also befriend a cop that should be their choice. The people should determine police involvement into people's personal lives. Community Police has been presented as latest and correct style for British policing. In the past 25 years the community policing motion has been acquiring momentum gaining the prop up of scholars, politicians, reformers, and public. Unfortunately there have been troubles that continually plague the Community Policing phylosophy. Some largest obstacles that these organizations face with policing program are the beginning implementation and understanding of the community police, the capability of changing and adaption of the latest format of the policing, and the acceptability of community police programs by public. These three issues, along with their solutions, are vital components that need to be understood in order to have a functional and beneficial community policing program. Police departments around the country are now feeling the pressures of implementation from citizens and local government officials for a community based policing system. Also, due to the involvement of the federal government many British police departments are reporting that they already have or are attempting to implement a community policing program. However, a large number of police organizations do not fully comprehend the allegation and obstacles they experience with implementing this program. Many police agencies inquire to the community policing program due to the funding. Most of the police organizations applying for the grants do not fully understand the new style, and either intentionally or unintentionally misuse the funds. Community orientated policing is a proactive philosophy that promotes solving problems that are either criminal, affect the quality of life, or increase citizens fear of crime. It involves identifying, analyzing and addressing community problems at their source. "Involvement in the city's experimental police district changed the views of participating officers. Specifically, experimental district officers, compared to those assigned elsewhere, saw themselves as working as a team, maintained that their efforts were supported by their supervisors and the department was a whole, and believed that the department was truly engaged in the process of reform. They were also more satisfied with their jobs, more strongly committed to the organization, more customer oriented, more invested in the principles of problem solving and community policing, and more pleased with their relationship to the community." (Wycoff and Skogan). After implementation has been successfully administered internally, the prospect of administering the program externally becomes the focus. This involves selling the program to the community. In order to gain acceptance by the communities they serve, officers must continually present the material in a professional manner. To accomplish this, police officers must respond to community needs in the most stringent standards of discipline. "Police administrators can ensure their officers actions through careful personnel selection and training, especially in the area of police discretion. When an agency's officers continually perform in a professional manner they will gain the support and trust of the community, and therefore implementation will become much easier." (Walters p20). Introduction of community policing into a police organization and the community it serves is superior to former traditional policing methods. It will accomplish this by implementing long-term solutions to community problems instead of the re-administration of the proverbial bandage day after day. However, community policing programs face many obstacles both internally and externally of police organizations. These must be overcome and effective methods of establishment must be pre-administered for these programs to be successful and effective. In the end, the success of a community policing program depends on the professionalism and determination of those selected officers administering the program. Given time, officers involved in the program will find that they will be allowed to exercise independent thoughts and actions in order to solve long term community problems through new and innovative ways. As the new Police Chief of Dismal City, it is my duty to address and correct our budget problem in a manner that will still keep this city safe from crime employing fewer officers. It is my idea that community policing is the right way to go. With me as your new Chief in I will be listening to the needs of the community and boost morale throughout the police department. I will teach citizens the benefits of community policing using better communications with each other, and how to make their neighborhood safer with less of a city police force. These problems will not disappear over night and will take a real effort on everyone’s part to get this community back in order and to move forward. Since many Hispanic and Asian people are moving into the community, most should be able to speak and understand some English, even if they speak broken English. Officers can designate a Hispanic and an Asian who speak better English to teach other officers their language as part of their duty in initiating the program. It has been believed there are core elements that must be present for a successful program. The core elements with community policing all intertwine in one way or another to work together. These core elements are “Organizational Elements, which include “Philosophy Adapted Organization, Decentralized Decision-making and Accountability, Fixed geographic Accountability and Generalist Responsibilities, Utilization of Volunteer Resources” (Cops, 2008). Next, is the Tactical Element; this consists of Enforcement of the laws, Proactive Crime Prevention, and Problem-solving” (Cops, 2008, pg. 1, para. 4). The third Element is the External Element, which includes Public Involvement within the community, Partnerships, and Government and other local agency partnerships” (Cops, 2008, pg. 1, para. 4). You are probably asking yourself, would our community need to be involved in the design and implementation of community policing? And if so how? The answer is yes. Community oriented policing relies heavily on the cooperation of the community members and a COP program that requires the following: Certain steps and processes, a reorganization of cultures and the redefining of police goals, empowerment of police officers, and police-citizen interaction where information and responsibilities are shared. The implementation of a COP program must contend with certain issues beforehand. These issues include folowing: “(1) awareness of the tenets of Community Police, (2) development of role of COP, (3) development of the organization supportive and administrative leadership of community-oriented policing, (4) the promotion of citizen’s contribution, and (5) adaptation of the COP strategies towards community context” (Bayley, 1988; Brown, 1989; Dewitt, 1992; Friedmann,1992; Oliver, 2001; Riechers & Roberg,1990; Sparrow, 1988; Stevens, 2001; Trojanowicz & Bucqueroux, 1994 as cited in Dantzker, 2003). The communities’ involvement in this process is needed and important; the two are inextricably linked because the community is in a better position to identify the plagues of the community and some communities have created their own initiatives and the merging of their functions with their local police departments. This can bring a COP program full circle to the institutionalization phase. Our community members need to be educated on current police policies and how the reorganization and adaptation of a COP program would function. Putting forth an initiative without the involvement of the community and trying to then solicit community involvement after the fact, may make some community members feel alienated from the beginning of the process. COP says, “ ‘It’s your community, decide how you want to go about taking care of it, and we will help’ ” (Dantzker, 2003). You are also probably asking yourself, how might our new community policing provide more effective delivery of services? The answer is that more effective delivery of services would include more beat cops and becoming more personable with community members; getting to know the community members on a on name basis from knowing elderly Mrs. Johnson on the fifth floor to Jason, an 18 year old recent high school graduate and neighborhood child. Policing must become personalized; our communities can longer afford “drive by policing.” Other effective delivery of service methods would include seminars, newsletters and keeping our community members abreast of police activities, neighborhood watch groups, panels and open-forum discussions. Internal changes that would take place which is probably the most difficult aspect of COP, would be the breaking down of a quasi-military structure, police empowerment, using different tactics for training and educating officers and the public. (Dantzker, 2003, Chapter 9, pg. 261, para. 1). Our officers have to be willing to buck traditional police policies, embrace shared problem solving with community members and be 100% supportive of COP programs in order for this program to be successful. The implementation of community policing for the city of Dismal will not be an easy task there will be several problems along the way. “Traditional thinking” supervisors may be more resistant to change than non tradition thinking supervisors. It will be difficult for the city of Dismal’s police agency to convince not only the supervisors of the benefits of community policing but also the police officers. Police officers will have to accept new roles with the implementation of community policing. The agency will go from a centralized form of patrol to a more decentralized form of patrol. It will be difficult to convince the officers of the importance of their new roles within the community. Furthermore, the current status of the agency’s attitude due to a lack of funding and a low staff ratio will increase the likely hood that supervisors will be concerned about any new changes. As the new Chief I will address the concerns of the supervisors by welcoming the same. In addition, it would be beneficial to show actual data from other agencies who have benefited from the use of community policing. Lastly, as chief it would be imperative to advise the staff that our agency’s current state is in such disarray that it can only get better with new ideas. In order for the new concept of community policing to be successful within the city of Dismal the already strained relationships between management and officers will need to improve. In order to improve relationships between the labor and staff it would be first important to work on the attitudes and leadership skills of the supervisors. Once the supervisors believe in and are accepting to the idea of community policing it will make it easier to convey this enthusiasm down to the officers. An important skill for leaders is to be able to inspire and motivate others. Therefore, it will be beneficial to get the supervisors buy in on the program first in order to improve relationships. In addition, improving the communication and working relationships between the management and staff will help to improve on existing relationships. The last question you are probably asking yourself is, what types of information will we use to evaluate the progress of our community policing initiative for city hall? We will use two kinds. The two kinds of information that we will gather are “quantitative and qualitative” (National, 2008, p. 18). As a first step, we need to gather as much quantitative data about criminal activity in our neighborhood as we can. Quantitative data is “statistical, measurable data”, for example, the number of crimes reported over a period of time. We should aim to collect information that will show trends in crime over time. Data useful to us will indicate the levels of crime in our community, what kinds of crimes are being committed, where they are being committed and who the victims are (if we are able to collect some information about victims). We will also need to gather demographic data about our community. We will also need to include “qualitative” (National, 2008, p. 18) information in our crime profile meaning, our neighborhoods perceptions of crime. Understanding how our neighborhood feels about crime will help us to devise appropriate and unique solutions to the problems experienced. Listening to them and including their points of view will encourage participation in any programs that we implement. There are many different ways to gain information about perceptions of crime in the community including: “surveys, focus groups, key person interviews (with criminal justice personnel and community leaders), public forums, and safety audits” (National, 2008, p. 22). There are benefits and disadvantages to each of these methods. We will need to consider what methods best suit our neighborhood before we begin the process. Dismal City’s new police chief has been commanded to do more with less by implementing a financially responsible; effective community policing plan. Community policing will allow Dismal City’s police department to do more with less while giving the new chief of police the opportunity to mend strained intercommunity relationships which persisted under the previous police chiefs leadership. Officer workloads would increase initially but reduced crime rates will reduce officer workloads dramatically lower than they are currently. Reference Frequently Asked Questions: About Community Policing.(n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2002, from http://www.concentric.net. About Community Policing. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2002, from http://www.communitypolicing.org/.html. Schmalleger, F. (2002). Criminal Justice: A brief Introduction. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Glensor, Ronald W., "FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin",Vol. 65, Issue 7, p14. July 1996 Lurgio, Arthur J. & Skogan, Wesley G, "Crime and Delinquency", Vol. 40, Issue 3, p315. July 1994 Skogan, Wesley G. and Mary Ann Wycoff, "Quality Policing in Madison: An Evaluation of its Implementation and Impact" (final technical report). 1994 Walters, Paul M., "FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin", Vol. 62, Issue 11, p20. November 1993 Wycoff, Mary Ann, "Community Policing Strategies". Unpublished final report, 1994 COPS. (2008, April 30). Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?item=36Dantzker, M.L. (2003). Understanding today’s police. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. Prentice-Hall. National Crime Prevention Council (2008) . Neighborhood Watch. Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.ncpc.org:80/Topics /Neighborhood_Watch/index.phpPeak, K. (2001). Justice Administration: Police, courts and corrections management. (3rdedition). [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e- text]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from University of Phoenix, Resource, CJA453— Interdisciplinary Capstone Course Web site: http://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp Read More