Policing and crime prevention
Community Policing
Introduction
The role of the police department in the community has been misinterpreted by the public and there has been growing tension between the police and the public. While the police departments work to prevent crime, increase social security and enforce law and order, the public whom they are to protect view their role from another different angle and remain adamant in getting involved in the process. The main reason for this kind of behavior by the public comes from several cases of police brutality and racial profiling of victims. To end this kind of act and earn public trust, the police should involve the public in identifying community problems and addressing them jointly through cooperation. This strategy of policing mainly focuses on building trusts and working in close contact with the community in minimizing crime and making the neighbourhood safe (Segrave, and Ratcliffe, 2017). Therefore, in this briefing, I will bring to our attention what community policing is, why it is an important option adopted by several countries, its dimensions, benefits and possible problems the police department can experience in implementing community policing.
Community policing
It can be defined as the process of developing a partnership with the community, participation in problem identification and solving and involving the community in the implementation of policing features. The bottom base here is the involvement of the community in the whole process. Since the community is the client, it is important to involve them to ensure that the implementation of the community runs smoothly without setbacks. According to Helfgott, et al, (2017), the objective of community policing should be to establish a partnership with the community, protect the community and assure the community of quality life. With this manner of collaboration, the work of law enforcement departments will be efficient and the community welfare will improve.
Why many countries have moved to community policing especially Australia and the United States
Ineffective traditional policies
In the present times, law enforcement leaders in the police departments have discovered that the community has become so dynamic and there is need to alter the present system and come up with new policies for their organizations that fit into the current changes in the modern society. There is a shift in the manner in which crimes are committed and new characteristics of violence within the community that the traditional policies cannot effectively address (Diamond & Weiss, 2016). Traditional policing strategies which worked some years ago are not effective in addressing the safety, security and well-being of the community hence the need for innovation to address this crisis. Many practitioners also agree that the changing characteristics of the American communities have led to the need for the police to seek more effective methods to delegate their duties since urban communities have problems with gang violence, drug abuse, continuous burglaries and murders among other crimes. To effectively address these challenges, community policing is seen as the only effective way to combat the challenge (Weisburd & Braga, 2019).
Changes in the social fabric
As illustrated by Richardson, (2019), the basic unit of the society which is the family is changing. The families are not stable as they used to be initially, the rise in single parents who work two to three jobs to provide for their families is on the rise and makes it difficult for these parents to offer moral lessons to their kids. Spending less time with families has made it difficult to instil moral behavior in kids leaving to them joining gangs and do drugs. The schools and churches have also failed to fill the existing void since the strategies designed by these institutions are not effective in solving the social challenges. The communities are also diverse consisting of immigrants, minorities and different ethnic groups who have different beliefs, interests and pursue different goals. It is for these reasons that several governments have started considering the use of community policing and since we also face some challenges, community policing will be effective for the police organization.
Democracy in action role
The need for active participation of both the police departments and community makes community policing to be a democracy in action. Even though some institutions have failed efforts in addressing these challenges like the churches and schools, their roles cannot be sidelined when it comes to community policing (Gill, Weisburd, & Telep, 2016). Besides, local authorities, private agencies, hospitals and business leaders have a vital role to play in helping community policing to be a success. Through the inclusion of these stakeholders, community policing is viewed as democracy in action and many governments are trying to consider implementing it. Many leaders like President Clinton and Reno the attorney general of the United States supported the idea and emphasized on the need to change policies around policing to improve service delivery by the government down to the community level(Gill, Weisburd, & Telep, 2016).
Four dimensions of community policing
Philosophical dimension
Community policing is viewed as the new philosophy of policing. It is more than a profession and includes ideas and beliefs of the community. Three elements that constitute philosophical dimension include citizen input, personal service and board function. Like any other government agency, police organization should get the feeling and ideas of the citizens on how they need to be governed and be ready to accept their ideas and opinions while remaining accountable and responsible (Segrave, & Ratcliffe, 2017). Broad role implies that the role of the police is not limited to crime prevention but covers as far as safety to the community is concerned. Lastly, personal service entails servant leadership and not bureaucratic type. This will enable the police department to overcome the negative profiling of police as inhuman people who mistreat other citizens.
Tactical dimension
This dimension translates philosophy, strategies and ideas into programs to be implemented in the community. Through positive interactions like interactive patrols and meetings with the community, community policing can eliminate the traditional animosity between the public and the police (Milder,2019). As part of the tactical dimension, community policing stresses on an active partnership with the public in problem-solving. Lastly, problem solving is also a focus for community policing different from incident-approach of the traditional policing.
Strategic dimension
According to Putt, Dinnen, Keen, & Batley, (2017), this dimension tends to put the philosophy into action. It entrails programs by which the community policing are implemented. One strategy is re-organized operations which rely less on patrol cars and focuses on face to face operations. The intention is to eliminate the traditional mode of operation and replace it with a more interactive police operation. The second strategy is the preventive emphasis where the community would like the possibility of crime prevention other than action after the crime has occurred. Then lastly is the geographic focus, where the police departments establish relationship bonds with the community to improve on service delivery. That is, report to the officer if you suspect any crime any moment you see it.
The organizational dimension
For effective implementation of community policing, the police organization should consider effecting changes on how the police force is organized, managed, supervised and services administered. In terms of structure, the police organization should work on possible ways to restructure itself to match with the emerging strategies for implementation. Community policing is also associated with leadership and management which focus on creating cultural values and focus less on rules and regulations. Finally, the organizational dimension emphasizes on availing information about the neighbourhood which can be used to analyze the problems and coming up with possible solutions for the community (Fisher-Stewart, 2016).
Benefits of community policing
Many police chiefs of different police departments have always come out to confess that community policing works and these are supported by hard data, community surveys and statistics. The conclusion from these statistics confirms that community policing has helped improve public safety and has created positive working environments like in Arlington, Texas as illustrated by Boyd (2018). Below are some of the benefits which may be realized when community policing is implemented fully.
Safety for the community and police
Police interactions are more than just meeting and greeting, it also involves sharing of information and learns the interests of different sub-communities. Some officers get involved with the local especially the kids where they coach basketball and athletics. The bonding wins trusts of the community and helps them develop a positive image of the law enforcers. In other words, the police feel safer and respected in their areas of work (Scott, 2016). The personal connection and trust between the police and the community is also a source of job satisfaction of the police organizations.
Proactive method rather than reactive
Community policing tend to diagnose the root of the problem other than waiting for the problem to occur then react to it. The main focus is always crime prevention, which is scanning the underlying cause, analyzing the problem, coming up with an appropriate response and finally assessing the outcome of the response. This method has been successful in crime reduction and increased sensitization of community issues. It is only by appropriate problem definition that its causes can be effectively analyzed and appropriate response initiated which is later evaluated to prevent future incidences.
Promotes data sharing and teamwork
Most of the police departments in the United States and Australia are now upgrading their record management systems to incident-based reporting in efforts to enable the department to fully explore the victim. The upgrade is vital as it enables the department to closely monitor crimes, act faster and in most cases try to predict the likelihood of similar crime taking place. The ease of teamwork between departments has also made easier since departments of homicide can closely share information gathered from community policing to solve and end crimes in the community (Dobrin, 2017).
Successful enforcement approach
This the best example of how community policing can be effective in enforcement operations. A multidisciplinary operation called safety net was launched in 2016 to address robbery and assault crimes. This approach combined intelligence officers and investigators who came together with one goal of reducing robberies and assaults. In the centre of this strategy is the community involvement which is a support system for the police work (Dobrin, 2017). This makes the police to be approachable and eases the cooperation between the police and community
Community support for police operations
According to Milder (2019)In the United States, the Arlington Police department has experienced several achievements by implementing community policing. On one instance, an applicant from outside the state of Arlington wanted to be part of APD simply because of the reputation of the department he came across when browsing on the internet. He said that his encouragement came from the investments the police department put on the youths through the programs which allowed the police and the community to work together. It is this motivation which encouraged him to move to apply to be a police officer in Arlington. With community policing, the Australian citizens will also be supportive of their police departments.
Problems in implementing community policing
Lack of knowledge about community policing among the officers and community
Community policing is an emerging trend which has been slow in uptake by several police forces even though several studies have shown that it is effective in application. The sensitization of the officers to promote its implementation has also proved to be an uphill task since most officers are either opposed to it or lack enough knowledge of how community policing is supposed to work (Warren, 2019). Since this is a still work in progress for most of the police forces, there is a need for extensive sensitization and support from different authorities.
A belief that community policing is less effective
The rooted belief that police organizations should remain more authoritative in its operations has affected the implementation of community policing. Most officers are still glued to the traditional belief that officers should minimize interaction with the public. That is, do patrols in cars and motorbikes. This traditional perception has contributed to the slow uptake of community policing by police departments. On the other hand, some community view crime as a source of income to some families and decline in contributing to a program which is geared towards ending it (Ariel, & Partridge, 2017).
Time-consuming and resource-draining
Community policing is a program which takes time to implement and requires adequate resource allocation. Most governments and local authorities have budget constraints and face challenges in resource allocation to the police force (Ariel, & Partridge, 2017). Therefore, it may take a longer time for community policing to be realized among police organizations. The local authority under the leadership of the mayor can give a helping hand through additional budget allocation to the police department to realize the full implementation of the program.
Conclusion
In summary, community policing has a high potential of building trust concerning communities, law enforcement organizations and other public institutions. Therefore, different stakeholders must come together and support the implementation of community policing for the community to achieve safety and community harmony. However, there are challenges like traditional beliefs of how police force should operate, budget constrains by the government and inadequate knowledge by the law enforcers on how to effectively support community policing implementation. The police departments and the community should have an optimistic attitude that the above challenges can be addressed and its implementation be a success.
References
Segrave, M., & Ratcliffe, J. (2017). Community policing: A descriptive overview.
Helfgott, J. B., Parkin, W. S., Danner, J., Goodwin, G., Bray, B., Schuur, K., & Singer, J. (2017). Seattle police Department’s micro community policing plans: Implementation evaluation.
Diamond, D., & Weiss, D. M. (2016). Advancing community policing through community governance: A framework document.
Weisburd, D., & Braga, A. A. (Eds.). (2019). Police innovation: Contrasting perspectives. Cambridge University Press.
Richardson, T. (2019). Developing Understanding in Effective Community Policing: A Single Case Study (Doctoral dissertation, University of Phoenix).
Gill, C., Weisburd, D., & Telep, C. (2016). Community policing. Advancing Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy, 145-154.
Helfgott, J. B., Parkin, W. S., Danner, J., Goodwin, G., Bray, B., Schuur, K., & Singer, J. (2017). Seattle police Department’s micro community policing plans: Implementation evaluation.
Segrave, M., & Ratcliffe, J. (2017). Community policing: A descriptive overview.
Putt, J., Dinnen, S., Keen, M., & Batley, J. (2017). The RAMSI Legacy for Pacific Policing.
Milder, N. D. (2019). Planning, Community Policing, and Neighborhood Revitalization. Planning and Community Equity: A Component of APA’s Agenda for America’s Communities, 139.
Fisher-Stewart, G. (2016). Community policing explained: A guide for local governments.
Boyd, J. (2018). The Benefits of Procedural Justice in Contemporary Policing.
Scott, M. (2016). Benefits and consequences of police crackdowns.
Dobrin, A. (2017). Volunteer police: history, benefits, costs and current descriptions. Security journal, 30(3), 717-733.
Warren, B. (2019). Applying Community-Oriented Policing as a Method to Counter Far-Right Extremism.
Ariel, B., & Partridge, H. (2017). Predictable policing: Measuring the crime control benefits of hotspots policing at bus stops. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 33(4), 809-833.