Conditions That Impact Positively on the Implementation of Community Policing - Essay Example

Student Name: Instructor’s Name: Title: Community Policing Course: Institution: Introduction Community policing is the partnership between the police and the members of the public for the purpose of fighting and preventing crimes within the community. It may involve the partnership with individuals, or groups within the society. This partnership enables the flow of information between the police and the members of the community in order to combat crime. This system is increasingly becoming popular after it has become evident that the police alone cannot fight crime effectively. This ha made the participation of the members of the society very important and hence the rise of community policing. The changes in the modes of crime and the rise of modern technology have also made the work of the police in fighting crime quite difficult. However with the help of the members of the society, apprehending criminals and preventing crime has become efficient. The paper thus discusses the conditions that impact negatively and positively on the police procedures required to implement community policing in New South Wales, Australia. Conditions that impact positively on the implementation of community policing Accountability of the members of the community and the police in New South Wales has a positive impact on the implementation of the community policing system. The community should be held accountable for the provision of crucial information to the police that lead to crime prevention (Carter, 2005). The crucial information may also lead to the arrest of suspects or criminals within the community. If the community does not provide the information then they become accountable for the crimes committed. Once the community is aware of this condition, then volunteering information becomes easy and thus making community policing quite successful. On the other hand, the police should be accountable to the community in terms of implementing and enforcing the law. Once the community has provided the police with the required information, then they should take appropriate action depending on the situation. This is very important in implementing community policing as the accountability enables the flow of information and hence crime prevention. The members of the community should not be forced to be accountable but should do it out of their own goodwill. This is because community policing mainly involves a voluntary partnership between the police and the community. The role of the community should also be defined so as to make the process easy to implement. Proper leadership within the community in New South Wales is also a condition that impacts positively on the implementation of the community policing. The leaders in the community act as role models to their followers. They also have a potential of influencing their followers to do the right thing or any other decisions at the community level. Good leaders in the community will always encourage their followers to participate in positive aspects of life. This is important in discouraging criminal activities in the society. The community policing system thus flourishes when the leaders support the initiative (Hagan, 2005). Through their influence, the leaders will be able to influence the members of the community to hand over any criminals hiding in the community. The presence of a good leadership stricture in New South Wales has been very important in promoting community policing. Arrests have been made after the leaders in the community encouraged the community members to report wanted criminals. The leadership in the community has also played an important role in preventing the crimes in the community by encouraging the members of the society to shun domestic violence. This has made community policing quite easy as crimes are prevented and suspects reported. Trust is an important condition for community policy implementation. The trust between the members of the public and the police is very important for the process. In New South Wales, the level of trust between the police and members of the public has had a positive impact on community policing. The community is increasingly trusting the police and hence enabling easy flow of information. In some instances, the members of the public and community have been called upon to identify criminals and stolen goods (NSW police force, 2012). The community members have responded positively by working with the police to prevent crimes. On the other hand, the police department in New South Wales is also ready to work with the community. A lot of improvements have been made for the purpose of wining the trust of members of the community. The use of unnecessary force, arrogance and pride within the police department has greatly been reduced. The trust between the members of the community and the police has thus impacted positively on the implementation of the community policing. The trust within the community has also enabled the police to gain vulnerable information from the members of the public leading to crime prevention. This condition is thus very important and is considered as a cornerstone for community policing. Conditions that impact negatively on the implementation of community policing `In New South Wales, the community policy procedures have been successful but some conditions are impacting negatively on the implementation process. The attitude of some members of the community as well as some police officers greatly affects the implementation process. Some members of the community do not want to participate in the process as they feel that the prevention of crime is mainly the duty of the police. This mentality affects the process greatly as some members of the community do not participate in community policing. The flow of crucial information that may lead to crime prevention is thus hidden leading to the crime which affects the whole community. Some of the police officers are also to blame for the negative impacts facing the process of implementation. Although the police officers are usually trained on how to work with the members of the community, some are not wiling. The mentality by some of the police officers that they are more superior as compared to the members of the public greatly impacts negatively on the process. The poor attitude by some members of the community as well as the police officers is thus a factor that impacts negatively on the implementation (Lurigio, 2002). The fear among the members of the community regarding some criminals is also a factor that impacts negatively on the implementation of community policing in New South Wales. Some members of the community do not want to report criminals who are well known to them for fear of revenge. They feel that the criminals may harm them if they discover that they are the ones responsible for their arrests. This fear has not been eliminated completely in the society and hence affecting the process. The measures to protect and assure the members of the public about their safety are still not up to standards. This failure by the police to address the issue adequately has affected the process. It is for this reason that many criminals who are well known in the community evade arrests. On the other hand, the lack of adequate knowledge regarding the system is also to blame for the negative impacts. Some members of the indigenous community do not understand the concepts and hence affecting the process (Dixon, 1999). The members of the society who have not understood the concepts of community policing are also not willing to participate in the implementation and hence affecting the process. The lack of proper coordination with other state departments also impacts negatively on the process. The coordination between the institutions like courts and prisons with the community policing system impacts negatively on the process. This is because some o the offenders are usually released back to the society with the consideration of the members of the community policing. Some of the offenders do not reform and hence they still become a threat to the community. If information regarding their conduct was to be shared with the community, then it would be easy for the community to deal with them. Most of the crimes are usually committed by people who have served sentences. These repeat offenders are thus present a big challenge to the community policing system. The lack of coordination thus impacts negatively on the implementation of community policing in New South Wales. The resources allocated to community policing ids also not adequate. This limits the operations of the system and thus affecting its outcome. The lack of adequate resources and coordination of departments thus impacts negatively to community policing (Matthews, 2003). Conclusion In conclusion, community policing is an essential practice in New South Wales Australia. The system is used for the purpose of detecting and preventing crimes. Both the members of he community and the police participate in the implementation. Some conditions have greatly promoted the implementation while others have impacted the system negatively. The accountability, roper leadership and trust have impacted the process positively. On the other hand lack of adequate knowledge, poor attitudes, lack of coordination and lack of resources has impacted the process negatively. However, it s evident that community policing in New South Wales is headed for a great success due to the conditions that impact positively on the system. Bibliography NSW police force, 2012, Neighbourhood Watch NSW, Retrieved on 9 September 2012 from, . Carter, D, 2005, Community policing and politics, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University. Hagan, F, 2003. Research methods in criminal justice and criminology. 6th edition. Boston: Pearson Publishing Company. Lurigio, A, 2002, The prevention of crime: Social and situational strategies, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Dixon, D, 1999, Beyond zero tolerance, paper presented at NSW police service conference, University of Sydney. Matthews, R. (2003). New Labor, Crime Control and Social Exclusion, The New Politics of Crime and Punishment, pp. 1-32. Willan Publishing: Portland, Oregon. Read More