The Criminal justice system is made up of a myriad of institutions implemented to maintain social order, deter crime, and impose sanctions on those who violate that social order. Beginning in the early ages of 2300 BCE, punishments and laws were put into place under Sumerian rulers (Miller, Hess, & Orthman, 2014, pp. 5). However, over time those laws evolved into more modern day trends. Today, Judges, prosecutors, probation officers, police officers, and citizens, all work together to enforce the laws of society, each one with a unique responsibility. However, in this paper we are going to specifically focus on the concept of Community Policing, and how it works.
To me, Community Policing, is the shared responsibility between the community
…show more content…
Here in Tucson there are two important Law enforcement agencies; Tucson Police Department, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. Based on my research it appears that both the Tucson Police Department and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department advocate community policing. The Tucson Police Department encourages the Neighborhood Watch program, which is designed to promote neighborhood safety by looking out for one another. Since Police Officers are often assigned different tasks and different locations, they may be unfamiliar with their surroundings, and unaware of suspicious activity. It is for that reason, neighbors are encouraged to keep a look out for suspicious activity, because they are more aware of the routines, and can better identify what might be suspicious or criminal behavior. Once a person detects suspicious behavior, they are inquired to notify the Police who can then investigate and potentially apprehend any criminals (City of Tucson, 2018). Tucson Police Department also accepts direct reports and 3rd party reports of suspected hate crimes and biased incidents (City of Tucson, 2018). By publicly …show more content…
First, they have the Rape Aggression Defense classes that teach women how to fight against sexual assaults and attacks. The class teaches women how to defend themselves in case of an attack and how to take precaution in order to avoid any attack at all (Pima County Sheriff’s Department, 2018). Second, is that the Sheriff’s department also embraces the neighborhood watch program which allows citizens to be involved in keeping the communities safe by being actively aware and alert (Pima County Sheriff’s Department, 2018). In 1984 the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteer program, which is a nationally recognized, award-winning organization comprised entirely of volunteers, superheaded Pima County Neighborhood watch efforts. The members perform multiple tasks that a crucial to the Sheriff Department’s mission. Such tasks are; patrol, crime prevention, neighborhood watch, field operations and emergency response, administration, fingerprinting, special activities, recruiting, and training (Pima County Sheriff’s Department, 2018). Last but not least, is the crime prevention tab that is easily accessible to the public which keeps citizens informed on how to stay alert in home safety, identity theft, and personal
In order for the police to successfully prevent crimes, public cooperation is needed. Various community policing programs have been implemented and it is important to discuss the benefits and limitations of these programs. Community policing allows the community to be actively involved and become a partner in promoting safety. This partnership increases trust of police officers and helps citizens understand that the police are on their side and want to improve their quality of life (Ferreira, 1996). The role of the police officers goes beyond that of a “crime fighter” and expands to multiple roles including that of a victim-centered
Yero, A., Othman, J., Samah, B., D'Silva, J., & Sulaiman, A. (2012). Re-visiting concept and theories of community policing. International Journal Of Academic Research, 4(4), 51-55. doi:10.7813/2075-4124.2012/4-4/B.7
A major reason and mostly a popular stereotype, is the belief the officers are out to get people, or better understood as picking on an individual. Also these individuals have emotions and thoughts too, unlike the robot some think that those individuals are. Sheriffs are a multi-purpose and multi-use law enforcement group that is provided by the county that one lives in. In addition to that, a sheriff has an entire county to patrol and protect. The response time to an insistent also plays a major role, since there are usually only sheriffs out in the country around cities. While including being a multi-purpose group, sheriff 's often work with other agencies depending on the call and the criteria of the case that is on hand. Examples of sheriffs working with neighboring agencies can be seen in the local Madera Sheriff 's S.W.A.T team. Where there is a full 20 member, but 10 members are Madera deputies, 8 are Madera police officers, and 2 are police officers from the neighboring city of Chowchilla. Including that they work with neighboring agencies, they provide mutual aid for Merced county, natural disasters and prison escapes. As well as providing assistance, the sheriffs also attend schools around the county for demonstrations and possible career information. Plus, the sheriff 's department is the only agency to have a Dive team, as well as a Search & Rescue team. Adding on
This principle embodies the fundamental premise for the community policing movement in today’s society. In the past, the “police” were viewed in a tradition...
Community policing is a strategy used by various departments in order to create and maintain a relationship between the law enforcement agency and the community being patrolled. Community policing is composed of three critical components, community partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving (Gardiner, 154, 2016). Community partnerships are pivotal in community policing since they increase public trust and create am improved relationship in law enforcement agencies better serving the community (Gardiner, 87, 2016). These partnerships not only offer public input but also encourage the public to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in order to minimize crime within the community (Gardiner, 88, 2016). Unlike, the traditional strategies of policing, community orientated policing has been adopted by two-thirds of agencies in order to improve public safety and control crime. (Gardiner, 148, 2016).
The police are usually charged with the great responsibility of ensuring that citizens are living quality lives that are free of crime and fear. In order to perform this duty effectively, the police need accurate and deeper knowledge of the citizens and issues they encounter in their daily lives. This knowledge will not be easy to come by if the police work independently from the citizens. Over the last several decades, police agencies have been working to gain the respect and the cooperation of the communities they serve. Community Oriented Policing was introduced to bring a closer working relationship between the citizens and the police.
Community oriented policing has been around for over 30 years, and promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes, and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem solving tactics. The way community policing works is it requires the police and citizens to work together to increase safety for the public. Each community policing program is different depending on the needs of the community. There have been five consistent key elements of an effective community oriented policing program: Adopting community service as the overarching philosophy of the organization, making an institutional commitment to community policing that is internalized throughout the command structure, emphasizing geographically decentralized models of policing that stress services tailored to the needs of individual communities rather than a one-size-fits-all approach for the entire jurisdiction, empowering citizens to act in partnership with the police on issues of crime and more broadly defined social problems, for example, quality-of-life issues, and using problem-oriented or problem-solving approaches involving police personnel working with community members. Community oriented policing has improved the public’s perception of the police in a huge way. Community policing builds more relationships with the
Their tasks included street cleaning, fire watches and even worked as jailors. With the beginning of the 1900 came a reform movement called the progressive model of policing, this began a new era of modern law enforcement. Police then were made full-time employees and still maintained many responsibilities. Their roles now are to prevent crime and maintain order and control. However, then one of their main functions was to provide new immigrants with lodging and assist them in finding work. (Https://ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/114213.pdf)
Community-oriented policing is commonly by used by law enforcement agencies (Kerley and Benson 2000, 46). Community-oriented policing was designed to enhance police service and solve problems through an interactive process with members of the community. This included, preventative measures, problem solving and community partnership (Sciarabba 2009, Kerley and Benson 2000; Mirsky 2009). By including community partnership, it creates open communication between the police and members of the community which in turn, allows the police to be more efficient in developing peace and security in the community (Sciarabba 2009; Kerley and Benson 2000; Mirsky 2009).
Many departments now meet regularly with neighborhood groups, allow citizens to participate in citizen police academies, and conduct forums to give citizens a better understanding of the duties of police officers and their actions. Some police departments require and encourage officers to get out of their patrol vehicle and initiate positive contact with the people on their beats (Shusta, Levine, Wong, Olson, & Harris, 2011). All of these efforts are important and relevant to community policing, which helps to remove and diminish negative images of police officers. Citizens are more willing to work hand in hand with police officers who are approachable, engaged, and take ownership of the neighborhoods they serve, which is what community policing is all about.
Community policing allows officers to be actively involved on the streets alongside the community. Their focus is not only to solve crimes but to interact with the people in their neighborhood, establish a rapport with them. This initiative has gained popularity within recent years as the police and leaders of the community pursue more significant ways to promote public safety and to enrich the quality of life of their community members. The police and the citizens often come in contact with each other for a multitude of reasons other than criminal purposes. Police officers often engage in community service by providing an abundance of information for those in need, and they offer educational services at schools and outreach
To conclude, Community policing represents a major development in the history of American law enforcement, but the extent to which this approach is a success and dominates contemporary policing remains a source of debate. In my point of view, community policing is good for communities. It has challenged the traditional concept of the police as crime-fighters by drawing attention to the complexities of the police role and function. In addition to the police officer hard work; citizens can also make a difference and contribute to make neighborhoods a better place to live. For instance, citizens can hold community meetings to talk about concerns and agree on solutions help organize healthy activities for children in your neighborhood, join or starting a neighborhood crime watch program, and talk to your community police officers and share information and concerns.
There are many different ways of policing in the 21st century and all address and apply different theories and ideas to try and control the crime this day in age. One of these methods is called community policing and many law enforcement agencies around our country and the world use it as a model for policing and interacting with communities. Community policing is based on the belief that policing agencies should partner with communities with the goals to prevent or reduce the amount of crime in those areas (Pollock, 2012 p. 99). There are 3 main aspects of community policing that I will talk about in this paper and they are community partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving. After hearing about the
The key aspects to community policing involve having officers working in permanent neighborhoods, the involvement of citizens to identify problems and have potential solutions, and the reliance on agencies to help locate issues. The cornerstone of the program is the citizen interaction with the police. It is reported that communities that receive community policing funds have reduced levels of violent and property crimes, also has a greater number of arrests. Successful partnership helps with the reduction of gang and drug activities, area crime rate, and the improvement of the relationship between law enforcement and
(Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem Solving.") At the same time, aggressive patrol tactics adopted in response to rising crime and civil disobedience increased the likelihood of hostile confrontations between police and citizens and contributed to increasing complaints against the police (Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem Solving.") The community policing literature strongly suggests that community policing could improve communication and trust between police and citizens, reverse the growing distance and isolation of the police from the public, and reduce citizen complaints of brutality and indifference (Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem