Broken Trust is Between Law Enforcement and the Community - Research Paper Example

When communication/ trust is broken between law enforcement and the community al affiliation) Content 0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….. 3 2.0 Discussions 2.1 Mistrust between the police and the community ……………………………… 3 2.2 How the police can develop or restore trust …………………………………… 7 3.0 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………… 9 1.0 Introduction Trust between the police and the community has continued to deteriorate in the country. An active collaboration between the law enforcers and the community will help build a long lasting trust and solve day to day problems that are with conflicts and crimes. Police are supposed to maintain law and order which can only be effective if through cooperation with the community. Some law enforcers have been associated with the use of force and harassment. Such practices do not go well with the people and the human right activists. In order for the law enforcers and the community to develop a long lasting trust, they have to work together to control and prevent crime. Police officers should be backed by the police organizations to help mobilize support and solve problems in the community (Borrero, 2007). 2.1 Discussions 2.2 Mistrust between the police and the community The simmering distrust that occurs between the communities of colors and the many police officers can be controlled. Police departments in various states in the United State of America should be able to offer the community members a chance to contribute advice, take actions that are legally accepted and voice their concerns on issues such as crime prevention and control. Creating a constructive trust and partnership between the two parties will require creativity, energy, patience and understanding. Reinvigorating communities is important if we are to create more vital neighborhood and deter crime. In some communities such as the African American communities, it will take time to solve issues of trust with an intention of forging meaningful partnership. This is because of recent use of force by police when dealing with people from that community (Hunt, 2008). Law enforcers have been associated with police profiling. Trust is a value that links and underlines the components of problem-solving and community partnership. Trust foundation will enable the police to form long-term relationships with the community will simplify their work. The mistrust that has continued to exist between the police and the people has called for the need of community policing throughout the United States of America. Community policing entail the cops working together with community leaders in search of meaningful ways of enhancing quality of life while at the same time promote public safety (Johnson & Gregory, 2008). Community policing initiatives vary depending on the responses and needs of the communities involved. However, certain fundamental considerations and principles are common to all the communities involved. It is time for the police enforcement leaders to alter the practices and policies in their organizations. This is because of shifting characteristics of violence and crime that affect that various communities (Jiao, 2001). The strategies employed by the police in the past are no longer valid today. The enhanced sense of safety, well-being and security has not been achieved. This calls for innovation in order to curb the emerging crisis in various communities. Both the nature and level of crime in the United States and the changing in character of the communities are pushing the police department to look for methods that are more effective in protecting the communities. Mistrust is caused inability of the police to protect the citizens and the community efficiently and the use of harassment and force when dealing with suspects. Many urban communities, for example, are experiencing problems such as murder, illegal drugs, gang violence, burglaries, and mugging. Rural and suburban communities are not better off since they have also witnessed the rise in disorder and crime (Maguire & Mastrofski, 2009). The community, therefore, relies on to protect them from such problems. Failure of the police to deal with the emerging problems results to trust issues. The American society is changing radically. The family units are becoming unstable, single working parents spent less of their time for their children, schools and churches have been unable to fill the gap that exist. Immigrants, minorities, ethnic groups, while adding to the different nature of the American communities, often pursue disparate goals and have various interests. The government too is having difficulties in balancing budgets, causing the allocation of fewer funds to the police department. Inadequate resources make it impossible for the police to protect the public more effectively (Maguire & Mastrofski, 2009). This in the end causes the communities to mistrust the cops. Community policing concept is, therefore, the only reliable and effective way of coping with gang activities, the drug problem, and rising levels of violence in the rapid changing environment. In order for the police to work together with the community, communities must take a unified stand against violence, disregard for the law, and crime, and should be committed to increasing interventional activities and crime prevention. Police department should be in a position to build more self-sufficient and stronger communities, in which disorder violence and crime will not thrive. Working together with the community is a democracy in action. It entails active participation of civil and business leaders, private and public agencies, local government, churches, residents, hospitals and schools (Lockwood & Wyant, 2013. All those people who share a concern for the welfare of the community should be in a position to safeguard it. Working effectively with the community calls on to make fundamental changes in the management and structure of the police organization. While crime prevention and control remain central priorities, community policing will utilize several methods and strategies to curb the problem. Working together will help address problems of neglect and disorder. It is indeed true that the community may have a lot of information concerning the crime and violence suspect than the police. Allowing participation of the community will make the police’s work easier. Apart from the creation of trust, working together will enable the police to mitigate and pinpoint the underlying issues that cause crime. Police approach to particular issues should also be stopped. Some police officers have been accused of racial profiling and shooting of suspects especially the African American community. Such vices should be if the police are willing to work with the commonwealth (Victor, 2010). Suspects are never guilty unless proven in a court of law. Some police officers who are such acts should stop the harassment and should work with to help deal with crime issues. Police are finding that crime prevention tactics have to be with strategies that hinder crime, improve the quality of life of the community members and reduce the fear of crime. Through community involvement, the police will have more way of crime prevention instead of just being involved after the crime has already been committed. Centralization of police management has been found to inhibit community policing. Isolating the police with the community reduce crime fighting efforts. Without engaging the community, police officers will find it a challenge to access relevant information from the people that could help deter or solve crime issues. It is only through establishing trust with the community and working together with them that will enable the police to acquire helpful information that will be essential in crime prevention. Although building trust take time especially among communities where relationship the police deteriorated communities and those internal conflicts working together the communities present a lot of benefits in the entire police organization. The police should involve the community in various security forums with an intention of getting solutions to the problems that affect the community (Lockwood & Wyant, 2013). Research and experience have shown that the community is the first line of defense against crime and disorder. It is, therefore, important for the community to partner with the police in order to strengthen crime prevention units. Some police officers have also been linked to corruption with members of the communities involved in activities that are against the law such as drug trafficking. Such police officers should be identified and punished because they are putting the lives of those they are meant to protect in danger (Brown, 2007). The relationship between the police officers who are in such heinous acts and the community has worsened. Such police officers have continued to tarnish the police’s body and have made it difficult for them to work closely with the public. The department has been able to deal with such acts by transferring the police involved or rotating the police officers from one state or location to the other. The centralized control system is also meant to encourage professional aura of impartiality and to ensure compliance with the standard operational procedures. 2.2 How the police can develop or restore trust In order to build and restore trust, police corruption must end, decentralization of police management should be and more focus should be directed toward community policing. Police should be free to communicate with the public and the community instead of just imparting fear (JONES, 2009). The presence of mistrust between the police and the community is evidenced by various civil rights activism and protests such as the one that took place in Ferguson last year. The inability of the police to handle urban unrest and increasing crime rates has continued to cause fear among the public and the community. The police department has to restrategize and come up with effective methods of dealing with crimes that will entail involving the community. The police should organize forums that will allow members of the community to voice their concerns and ideas on how to deal with crime. The issue of rotating the police officers should be stopped and laws against police involvement in corruption activities should be strengthened. Rotating the police officers does not strengthen the bond between the police and the community. It only serves to isolate them since the time that they are meant to be with the public is often inadequate. Police should be allowed to stay in a certain community for long to enable them build a long lasting relationship and trust. Trust created will enable the police to access viable information that will help solve various problems (JONES, 2009). Combined efforts between the police and the community will be beneficial in dealing with the various criminal activities that are in the society. Working together and boosting the trust with the commonwealth does not subordinate the primary police duty of preserving order and law or does not imply that police are no longer in authority. However, tapping into the resources and expertise that exist in the community will relieve certain police burdens. 3.0 Conclusion Local government officials, business people, church groups, schools and social agencies should contribute to a secure community. The police should allow the community members to share responsibilities aimed at coming up with workable solutions to challenges that detract from the security and safety of the community. Trust between the police and the community can only be restored when the police find ways of working together with them. The police officers should also do away with vices such as corruption, harassment and use of force when dealing with members of the community (Dengler, 2008). References Borrero, M. (2007). The Widening Mistrust Between Youth and Police. 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