Community Policing
Community policing can be defined as an approach towards crime that addresses the underlying causes of crime and endeavors to apply long-term problem solving to the issue through improved police-community partnerships and communication. (Dempsey and Forst, 2016, page 367) Robert Trojanowicz, who was the founder of the National Center for Community Policing in Lansing Michigan, believed that three types of violence could be reduced with the implantation of a community policing model (individual violence, civil unrest, and police brutality.)
The concept of community policing itself is not a recent idea. Sir Robert Peel, who is often credited as establishing the first English police department in 1829 had the belief that the police were members of the public and that it was every citizens responsibility to keep the interests of the community welfare in existence in mind. “The police are the public, and the public are the police…” was part of his original tenet. (Dempsey and Forst, 2016, page 367)
Can community policing efforts resulted in a dramatic decline of violent crimes and property crimes in the city?
Early examples of community policing were manifested in the cities of Houston, Detroit, and New York City. In Houston, officers would visit homes to solicit opinion and information on
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Communities must become participants in trust building and be able to report suspected activities within their communities without fear of being accused themselves. Communities must “… be able to believe that their well-being and safety are just as important as those of others who are not subject to these perceptions, assumptions, or stereotypes. (Shusta, Levine, Wong, Olson, & Harris, 2011, page 310). Likewise, they must also receive the same accordance from not just law enforcement, but lawyers, judges, parole, and probation
Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.
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
Sir Robert Peel, the creator of the first police force in 1829, London, England, modeled after the British Military. In America, the New York Sheriffs office was founded in 1626, In 1751, the City of Philadelphia established the first police force. A little over 220 years, before Sir Robert Peels police force in London. However, America’s version would soon morph into the Sir Robert Peels police model, following three principles, mission, strategy and organizational structure, moreover, this model could be compared to our two prong approach of “Professional and Community” policing of today. The mission was to prevent crime, by being visible in the community, the strategy was to be proactive, by actively pursuing offenders, and lastly, the
SIR ROBERT PEEL- The founder of the British system of policing, expanded in 1822, “The basic mission for which the police exist is to reduce crime and disorder” 162. Importance- Peel laid the foundation for the police mission statement, which is still in effect today.
By the turn of the twentieth century, criticism was developing over the ineffective and illegitimate character of local police departments. During this time period, the Progressive Era, many changes were taking place in America. Urbanization was bringing many people to large, increasingly industrial cities of the day. City officials were required to redesign many facets of urban life as cities continued to grow. This atmosphere of reform was also carried over into policing. Roberg et al. argues that the 1920s to 1960s were “probably the most significant period in the development of policing in the United States” (2012). During this time period, the foundations of professionalization were laid down. The reform model of policing dominated police work during this time period (Roberg et al. 2012). This model was characterized by a commitment to base the police-community relationship on law and police policy. It was now understood that police action should not be influenced by politics or personal opinions. To avoid this, police departments were now efficiently and centrally m...
The researchers, who were based at George Mason University, Arizona State University, Hebrew University and the University of South Wales, sought to better understand the effects of community-oriented policing on crime, disorder, fear, and citizen satisfaction with and trust in the
Oliver, William. (1998). Community-Oriented Policing: A Systemic Approach to Policing (Second edition 2001). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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).
There has always been a love-hate relationship between the public and the police. When called upon to help, they can be something sent from God, but when they are writing tickets, or taking a friend to jail, the view changes from a savior to a presence that is unwanted and often hated. An effort to improve the public view of law enforcement is being attempted by many departments. Using different styles of policing techniques, mainly community based policing, has proved to be the best way to improve the image of law enforcement.
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
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.
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
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.
(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
When Sir Robert Peel established the London Metropolitan Police, he established a number of principles to follow, one these principles could be considered the start of community policing: “the police are the public and the public are the police” (Bain, 2014). For a plethora of reasons, the police began to lose sight of this relationship as the central organizing concept