Community Policing - Literature review Example

 Community Policing Brogden and Nijhar (2005: 23) assert that ‘searching for a definition of community policing is a will-of-the-wisp’. Discuss. It is easy to understand the meaning behind the words used by Brogden and Nijhar (2005) since the definition of community policing differs from community to community. While there are some general commonalities for the functions of a police officer, the exact definition of what a community police officer or a police officer really is may not be that clear (Jones, 1995). Of course the police in general have been an inspiration for many people including writers and media products who create a popular image of police officers through their writings and media productions. Considering the role of the community police officer, it can easily be said that their work is more concerned with the prevention of crime as suggested by Brogden & Nijhar (2005) than to bring criminals to jails. This is because the historic role of the police officer in uniform has developed with the time to include several different aspects of police work which have been present since medieval times. The basic purpose of all police officers is to help the community to which they belong to (Jones, 1995). While a person can help the development of a community by being a social worker, public official or even a scientist but the impact from such positions is often removed and remote. Their achievements will certainly help society but perhaps the most direct impact on making society safe in day to day terms comes from police officers. In fact, the onus for maintaining and upholding law and order in a given social system has always been the police of the region. In this manner, police officers are always placed in direct contact with society and this gives them a frontline position in maintaining local peace as well as a place of authority in any emergency. With this power, they are also given the responsibility for discharging that authority within the laws which are applicable to them including the use of physical force. While a scientist may have to wait years to see his/her discovery being used for the good of society, a police officer who intercepts a crime which is in progress can see the result of their action on society as soon as they take the action. Therefore communities at large and countries in particular appreciate the role of the police officer where the position of the police is created by the country or city government. While analysts and writers give their ideas about the police, most of the information concerning police and their operations comes from the government of a country since they are the ones who control the police. From nation to nation, both the role and the position of the police in society differ since some states are even known as police states where the government curtails human rights and uses the police to control the people of the country (Jones, 1995). However, for the most part, the police work to maintain law and order in western democracies when the situation calls for them to intervene in a crime in progress or to intercept one (U.S. Department of Labor, 2008). There seems to be few differences in terms of how the police functions in European countries as discussed by the London Metropolitan Police (2008). Even community based policing in Europe has several common points concerning the ideas of responsibility and authority with regard to protecting citizens and helping those who need help from the community policing officer. In fact, even the scope of the work for community police is similar across many localities even though the details of their work and their authority may change from one location to another. This is because regular police officers certainly have more many more authorities than community support officers simply because of the training that regular officers have received and the jurisdiction which has been given to them by the laws of the country. In certain cases, a member of the police can have a national jurisdiction as compared to a community police officer that only has a local circle of operations. For instance, The U.S. marshal’s website (2008) states that the marshals are the oldest police agency for protecting the law in America and they do not have a real boundary in terms of where they can operate. Having countrywide as well as local experience makes police officers quite suitable for recruitment into global intelligence services such as the British Intelligence, the American Secret Service (2008) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2000). Even though the police officers may go from one government department to another, they still remain police officers and have the same duties along with additional mandates as they go to different settings (Mawby, 1990). They may be called on to help international investigations or protect national assets. In Britain for example, the police also has a large number of officers who work with Europol as well as Interpol for a larger circle of influence (Anderson et. al., 1995). Beyond community policing, a police officer who is recruited by the government may have to deal with different sphere of police work ranging from being a patrol officer to administrative duties (Mawby, 1990). Of course, there is always the threat of danger as a police officer may have to put down his/her life for duty and the American organizations known as COPS (1996) shows that the work done by the police may demand the ultimate sacrifice from some individuals. While community policing may not entail these risks, it can also put a person in the line of harm therefore the risk for community police is certainly comparable to the risk of regular police officers. However, in many instances community police officers are better suited for maintaining law and order than regular police workers. As described by Nyberg (2006), a local police officer who knows the neighbourhood would perhaps be a better individual to maintain harmony in an area since s/he would be acquainted with the residents and be more familiar with their faces than an outsider who does not have local knowledge. The British government certainly understands the need for such local police officers and recruits CSOs i.e. Community Support Officers for precisely this objective. CSOs are certainly not without authority since they have been given a certainl number of powers to maintain their position as police officers for the community (Home Office, 2007). As community officers, their powers and authority are both limited to the extent that their focus is on the social issues of crime and not the justice related issues. They look at street crime and lower level crime such as drunk and disorderly behaviour as well as anti social activities (Home Office, 2007). It is not likely that a CSO will ever be involved in hostage negotiations or be called on to investigate a murder but general police work such as protecting the defacement of property will remain important considerations for CSOs. Petty criminals and crimes that are considered social nuisances can easily be handled by both regular police and CSOs but the time of a regular police officer is perhaps better spent handling more serious crimes in the region. It may be said that all crimes at all levels are serious for a community but the government seems to accept that some crimes are more serious than others. The legal definition of crime can easily be understood as an act or action which defies cultural, social or moral rules of conduct in a given social order. In all civil societies, laws are created, maintained, adjusted and formalised for the regulation of conduct amongst individuals as well as other entities so that a breach of these law can be defined as criminal acitivity within a community. Some acts contrary to the law may not be considered criminal acts such as certain commercial activities being contractual violations that may not be legally defined as crimes (Cornell Law School, 2006). However, in all cases where the law is broken the police may be involved but as there are differences in the degrees to the crime, there are different levels of response which are given by society to the crime. In this manner, the use of Community Support Officers is a response presents an individual who is not exactly a police officer but the nature of the crime s/he is looking at is sufficiently simple and does not require the presence of a regular police officer. As discussed by Sheptycki (1998) the role of the police in society as well as community police officers keeps changing and instead of police officers wasting time their stopping individuals from cycling on a walking track, the police can be better utilised when they handle more serious crimes. Additionally, the presence of the CSOs increases the overall sense of security and gives a presence of law for various neighbourhood where it may be severely needed (Home Office, 2007). Therefore, to define the role of the community police officer, the idea of community policing and even the position of the police officer in general would be placing limits on what they entail. While we can get general definitions of what they are and what they do, the exact meaning of the terms remain elusive. It would be easy to say that this ambiguity is purposeful since the general definition gives community policing a general circle of influence ranging from helping paramedics with things such as CPR to helping firemen by reorganising traffic. For the future, the role of the community police officer and community policing could become even broader as security concerns in our modern world force us to have more police officers engaged in diverse duties. Works Cited Anderson, M. et. al., 1995, Policing the European Union: Theory, Law and Practice, Oxford University Press. Brogden, M. & Nijhar, P. 2005, Community Policing. Willan. Home Office. 2007, ‘Community Policing’, Home Office [Online], Available at: http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/community-policing/community-support-officers/community-cso-faq/ Jones, T. 1995, Policing and Democracy in the Netherlands, Policy Studies Institute. London Metropolitan Police. 2008, ‘Police Officer’, Metropolitan Police. [Online], Available at: http://www.met.police.uk/ Mawby, R. 1990, Comparative Policing Issues: the British and American experience in international perspective, Unwin Hyman. National COPS. 1996, ‘COPS home’, Concerns of Police Survivors [Online], Available at: http://www.nationalcops.org/ Nyberg, C. 2006, ‘Defenders of police brutality must wake up and face facts’, Forest Park Review, [Online], Available at: http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=1115&TM=15909.94 Sheptycki, J. 1998, ‘The Global Cops Cometh’, British Journal of Sociology, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 57-74 U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 2008, ‘Threats and Protection’, Department of Homeland Security [Online], Available at: http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm U.S. Department of Labour. 2008, ‘Police and Detectives’, Bureau of Labour Statistics [Online], Available at: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos160.htm U.S. Marshals Service. 2008, ‘Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency’, United States Marshals Service [Online], Available at: http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/oldest.htm U.S. Secret Service. 2008, ‘United States Secret Service’, US Secret Service [Online], Available at: http://www.treas.gov/usss/ Word Count: 1,818 Read More