Police and the Community - Term Paper Example

? Police and the Community Police and the Community The communities today are exposed to the violent practices such as the conflict ,disrupts, acts of aggression and so on ,which has a result increased the need and the importance of policing. “Formal policing begins with the need of the sovereign power to keep control over his subjects within a larger community, no longer bound by the natural boundaries and the bonds of the family and the tribe. Those subjects may need to be identified, mustered, counted, taxed or subjected, to local or national service, and punished or rewarded. “(Kenney, D. J., & McNamara, R. P. (1999). Police and policing: Contemporary issues. Westport, Conn: Praeger.) Policing is defined as the way or an approach to maintain the law and order and to tackle or deal with the law breakers , where as on the other hand if we pay close attention to the concept of community oriented policing, it is the organizational strategy which gives the community and the police a chance to join hands and collaborate with each other so that the neighborhood disorders can be minimized. Hence this is an act of cooperation between the police organizations and the community so that the issues and the problems which exist in a society can be identified and the problems are solved as well. Since the police have been ripped of the rights from being the only guardians of the law, therefore the community has to step up and make alliance with the police organizations so that the safety within a neighborhood can be improved and implemented at the same time. “There is some empirical evidence that the community oriented policing can efforts can reduce thh disorder and impact the crime rate as well.” (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) There are many successful programs under the umbrella of the community policing which have launched so that the disorders which persist in a society can be discussed and the local resident hold one on one meeting with the police officials to discuss such matters and then an initiative is taken at a personal level so that these problems can be solved. (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) There are certain aims and objective of the community oriented policing which have to be met so that a more orderly neighborhood can be maintained and a better relationship between the community and the police departments can established at the same time as well. The better relationship between the two entities will ensure that the public can build in more confidence in the Police and will address their issues in front of the department without much concern. The community oriented policing will also make the citizens much more active , and concerned who can work in a contributing manner so that the problems can be solved and the resources can be used more efficiently and effectively in assuring that the public disorder is eliminated. There are specific crimes which are committed within a community that are so dire that they have to be addressed hence community oriented policing can ensure that the specific problems are addressed. (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) There are many programs which had been started so that a more trusted relationship could be established between the police department and the community, where some of these programs had proven to be successful while others did not bear fruitful results. But despite the success of these programs, the community oriented policing plays a vital role in decreasing the fear level among the citizens. The application of the concept of the community oriented policing is liked by the locals and whi volunteer and play a role in the eradication of the community related disrupts not only establish a closer relationship with the police departments but at the same time, theses citizens became more confident about the jobs which the police is doing in eradicating these crimes, and that they have a major role in the establishment of a safer environment. (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) There are a lot of advantages which are derived from the practice of the community oriented policing such as the achievement of the public analysis and the control of the general public over the police is also increased and improved. The community oriented policing is said to increase the morale of the police as well because the interaction level between the community and the police improves due to which the police starts viewing police more confidently and as an entity which is welcomes by the public as well as their activity. (Palmiotto, M. (2011). Community policing: A police-citizen partnership. New York: Routledge.) However here is no solid evidence which can prove can that the community oriented policing has actually played a very vital role in the reduction of the criminal activities. This policing has some problematic aspects attached to it as well such as the illegal policing and he politicization of the police which give birth to other problems including corruption, and the intrusion of the police entities in to the private lives of the individuals as well. (Palmiotto, M. (2011). Community policing: A police-citizen partnership. New York: Routledge.) “In order for the community policing to work citizens must be made to feel a part of the crime fighting effort, not apart from it. When citizens and police work together, the people learn to appreciate the complex jobs the police officers must perform.” (Rogers, S. L. (2009). Proven strategies for effective community oriented policing. Flushing, NY: Looseleaf Law Publications.) Then emerges another form of the policing which is the problem oriented policing which is although a different and independent form of policing but at the same it is very closely associated with the community oriented policing. This particular time of policing is more proactive than reactive in nature. Hence the focus is on getting an emergency call first and then the issue is resolved and once the problem is solve the police department goes to other issues in order to resolve them . If we talk about the problem oriented policing, it is more long term in nature and it deals and tackles with the issues which are referred to as the long term community problems. These problems may include the illegal drugs sales, gang hangout etc. One similarity between the community oriented policing and the problem oriented policing is that there is more reliance on the general public and the private resources which are viewed as the problem solvers in the scenario. (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) “A significant percentage of the police departments are now using special units to confront specific social problems. Problem oriented policing methods are supported by ample evidence that a great deal of urban crime is concentrated in a few hotspots.” (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) The main objective of the problem oriented policing is that the crime rate has to be decreased and the social equilibrium of the order is maintained at the same time. Since it is reactive in nature, and each issue is dealt with as it is reported, and the police entities are more in a working order that are working to prevent a crime or an incident, and not trying to eliminate the crime. IT is more centralized in nature as well where the officers are not required to interact with the rest of the society, and once the problem has been addressed, then the reasons or the causes of the problem are dealt with later on. Problem oriented policing have been introduced so that the police department can spent its focus, time and energy on one specific problem, tackle and deal with it and later on moving to the next problem. AN example for this could be that in Sarasota, Florida, the problem oriented policing strategy has been implemented so that the prostitution can be decreased. This asked for the high level of focus, where the patrols not only discouraged the prostitutes but at the same time, the undercover dealers and the related drug dealers were arrested and the hotel/motel owners who were in collaboration with the pimps were also arrested and the legal action was taken against them. (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) “Another well known program, Operation Ceasefire, is a problem oriented policing intervention aimed at reducing the youth homicide and youth firearms violence in Boston. According to the evaluations of the program, Ceasefire produced significant reductions in the youth homicide and gun assault incidents in Boston.” (Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.) Another policing strategy that has been introduced is the zero tolerance policing which is very stringent in comparison to the community oriented policing and the problem oriented policing. The main principle which has been implemented and has been underpinned under the idea of the zero tolerance is a strong law enforcement approach can be used even against a minor crime. This stringent policing approach is adopted so that the serious crimes can be prevented from happening and as a result, the falling rate in the criminal activities is noticed. “This approach relies on an analogy drawn by Wilson and Kelling regarding broken windows. If one broken window is not repaired in a building, then other will be broken and the building vandalized followed by other building, the street, the neighborhood and so on.” (Hil, R., & Tait, G. (2004). Hard lessons: Reflections on governance and crime control in late modernity. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate.) This shows that an action has to be taken if the window is broken, because a small aspect which goes ignored grows in to something much bigger and impactful. Therefore Wilson and Kelling stated and tried to state that any behavior which is found to be disorderly at any stage has to be dealt with immediately so that a bigger crime can be prevented from happening. The world today is becoming, day by day , an unsafe place where the criminal activities and the law violators are committing crimes from the large scale to a very small scale. However, irrespective of the scale of the committed crime, it affect the community as a whole and therefore there is a need for the law enforcement agencies to apply an approach which can play a vital role in stabilizing the society and putting it at an equilibrium. The community oriented policing, the problem oriented policing and the zero tolerance policing are all important and inter linked in order to maintain a more peaceful society. The organization strategies and the aims and objective that the police department has devised are implemented upon using the three different interconnected approaches to the policing. Policing make a very systematic use of the techniques and the procedures which not only help in the determination of a certain kind of crime but at the same time, it also ensures that the disorder is eradicated and an order is maintained, and from time to time, the social disorders such as disruptiveness, vandalism, and other criminal activities are proactively and reactively addressed so that the public safety is ensured. References Hil, R., & Tait, G. (2004). Hard lessons: Reflections on governance and crime control in late modernity. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2004). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Palmiotto, M. (2011). Community policing: A police-citizen partnership. New York: Routledge. Kenney, D. J., & McNamara, R. P. (1999). Police and policing: Contemporary issues. Westport, Conn: Praeger.) Rogers, S. L. (2009). Proven strategies for effective community oriented policing. 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