Community Policing - Assignment Example

Community Policing Community Policing Given a scenario that community policing has been viewed as one of the most innovative approaches to law enforcement, the paper would hereby address the following concerns:1. Discuss the basic concepts of community policing and the supposed benefits of such an approach. The Office of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice clearly defined community policing as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime” (Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), n.d., par. 1). The basic components of community policing were identified as: community partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving.

By community partnerships, expected participation and collaboration by law enforcement agencies with other members of the community are seen to be instrumental in contributing to the peace and order of local communities. Organizational transformation, on the other hand, means “the alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving” (Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), n.d., par. 3).

And, finally, the problem solving process includes relevant elements such as scanning, analyzing, providing immediate response, and evaluating the effectiveness and success of response programs and initiatives. The benefits of community policing programs (or foot patrol) were revealed by Trojanowicz and Pollard (1986) as follows: increased contact on a one-on-one basis between law enforcement officers and citizens; fostering of increased trust; enabling law enforcements to focus on eminent problems in the community; by being actively seen, this approach gives greater public support, and immediate availability to address emergency situations (pars. 16 & 17).2.

Discuss the core police operations strategies and provide some examples.As revealed in Pearson Education (2010), there are five distinct core police operation strategies that assist law enforcement agencies to meet their goals. These core strategies are as follows: preventive patrol, routine incident response, emergency response, criminal investigation, problem solving, and support services (an ancillary operational strategy). These were validated by Scott (2000) in his published work entitled “Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the First 20 Years”.

A vivid example was clearly indicated by Trojanowicz and Pollard (1986) as follows: “one neighborhood may suffer a particularly large number of problems with juveniles, therefore the officer there devotes a greater share of his time to such concerns, perhaps as reflected in patrol time or in attending community meetings with young people. In another area, the pressing concern may be breaking and enterings, which would be reflected in more time spent handling complaints and making arrests” (par. 12).The important facet is addressing the core operation strategies and prioritizing the activities depending on the needs, demands, and the situation faced by members of the community.

As emphasized by Scott (2000), “each operational strategy can be applied at each operating level. For example, criminal investigation occurs at the localized level during the investigation of a single crime with a single victim. It also occurs at the communitywide level, where the policies and practices for investigating an entire class of crimes, and potentially affecting the entire community, are determined. The same pattern holds for the problem-solving operational strategy, which ranges from highly localized problem-solving (e.g., one drug house, or even one person) to the intermediate level (e.g., a prostitution strip), to the communitywide level (e.g., juvenile homicides throughout a city” (p. 17). As exemplified, police work is operated at various levels, where jurisdiction and chain of command follows identified hierarchy and scales.

ReferencesCommunity Oriented Policing Services (COPS). (n.d.). Community Policing Defined. Retrieved October 12, 2011, from The United States Department of Justice: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?item=36Pearson Education. (2010). Summary. Retrieved October 12, 2011, from http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_schmalleger_cjtoday_9/0,,2917157-content,00.htmlTrojanowicz, R., & Pollard, B. (1986). Community Policing: The Line Officers Perspective. Retrieved October 12, 2011, from The National Center for Community Policing: http://www.cj.msu.

edu/~people/cp/communit.html