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Most offenders and parolees return to their families and friends in their old neighborhoods and communities which are more often than not the same areas that got them in trouble in the first place. These areas are quite possibly the target of a previous hot spot policing detail, possibly leading to an individual’s incarceration. While I am not trying to say the return of one individual to a specific area will cause a spike in criminal activity and an immediate hot spot detail, I do want to stress that hot spot policing techniques and studies have not shown any sign of correcting criminal behavior in an offender or high crime area for a long period of time. Hot spot policing is used as a quick response to citizen complaints. Law enforcement …show more content…
We all live in an age of social media, where companies such as Facebook, Twittter, Instagram and LinkedIn map our friendships and use that knowledge to suggest our preferences, behavior, and social friendships. In response to its every growing and steady homicide rate, in 2011 to present the Chicago Police Department (CPD) began to utilize social media to do some of its detective work for them. CPD utilized the tools and media apps on its known and previously unknown gangs and their members within and surrounding the city of Chicago. Utilizing the social media apps and networks, CPD developed a network analysis, mapping the relationships among Chicago’s 14,000 most active and violent gang members. CPD ranked how likely certain gang members were to be involved in a homicide, either as victims or offenders. The development of the network analysis assisted CPD in identifying not as much “hot spots” as “hot people” or individuals who were most likely to be involved in violent gun related crimes. That finding was transforming the way the police did business in Chicago and had significant implications for how other cities are able to identify violent crimes and attempt to prevent …show more content…
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
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.
Looking back at the number of homicides in the city of San Jose, CA for the year 2000 it was 20, then there was an average increase of 8 murders per year for the next 8 years. Then in 2010, despite a population increase of over one hundred thousand people, there were only 20 murders in the city of San Jose. Now in 2011, up to the month of July, there have been 26 homicides, which means based upon the current rate San Jose is on track to have more than 50 homicides in 2011, which would theoretically be over a two decade maximum. Now despite having lived in a small town, I consider San Jose as a home away from home because I go there often. I have had a job there and my dad has worked in San Jose for 28 years. In 2009 the San Jose area was rated as the seventh safest area in the country and when that happened it made me feel thankful that my family and I have lived in such a safe area. Yet nowadays it seems like I have been reading about a different murder every week, which has caused me to ask many questions about the possible causes of this rise in murders. From the research I have done, the cause seems to be a rise in gang violence and rival gang murders. In San Jose, the two rival gangs, Norteños and Sureños, have begun to be bolder with their killings as shown with the already high and rising murder rate of 2011. Solutions must be determined in conjunction with the San Jose Police Department and governmental gang task forces to establish the best course of action to stop the continuing rise in violence (Associated Press).
It is disheartening that people always associate the city of Chicago with crime, ranging from the prohibition-period gangsters to modern-day criminals; however, it is understandable because these crimes have a history going back several decades, and most received wide media coverage and documentation. Their names and pseudonyms are embedded in the collective minds of the people. In all cases, these serial killings claim national attention and elicit heated debate, but this infamy sometimes fascinates the public to the extent that it sparks an initial interest in potential criminals. An examination into the characteristics of serial killers who were active in the Chicago area reveals they have varied motivations for their crimes, but the overriding factors tend to include financial gains, sexual perversion, racial hatred, and infamy. Chicago’s infamous reputation as a lawless and corruption riddled city stems from the motives for crimes committed by particular individuals in the Chicago area and the media attention these cases gained.
“community policing is a philosophy of full service personalized policing, where the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis, from a decentralized place, working in a proactive partnership with citizens to identify and solve problems.”
Because these changes in sentencing policy have created greater prison populations, laws like the Three Strike Policy have parole officers with a heavier burden. This increased work load transformed the focus of parole supervisors from rehabilitation of ex offenders, to law enforcement. (Travis 241) New modes of surveillance were introduced and by 1997, the rate of successful reentry was at a low of 44%— successful reintegration back into society was not the norm for most individuals. (Austin
This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of ex-offender reentry. Factors contributing to recidivism include law enforcement officers mistrust for reentry prisoners; lack of familial and community support; difficulties gaining employment due to criminal background, obstacles pertaining to housing. Factors that may reduce recidivism, increase public safety and facilitate ex-offender reintegration transitions, as well as detrimental factors of recidivism are examined. Lastly, the important role of parole officers for ex-offenders and the level of supervision ex-offenders receive are also explored in this paper.
Hot spot policing is based on the idea that some criminal activities occur in particular areas of a city. According to researchers crime is not spread around the city instead is concentrated in small places where half of the criminal activities occur (Braga chapter 12). Also, many studies has demonstrated that hot spots do show significant positive results suggesting that when police officers put their attention on small high crime geographic areas they can reduce criminal activities ( Braga, papachristo & hureau I press). According to researchers 50% of calls that 911 center received are usually concentrated in less than 5% of places in a city (Sherman, Gartin, & Buerger, 1989; Weisburd, Bushway, Lum, &Yang, 2004). That is the action of crime is often at the street and not neighborhood level. Thus police can target sizable proportion of citywide crime by focusing in on small number of high crime places (see Weisburd & Telep, 2010). In a meta-analysis of experimental studies, authors found significant benefits of the hot spots approach in treatment compared to control areas. They concluded that fairly strong evidence shows hot spots policing is an effective crime prevention strategy (Braga (007) .Importantly, there was little evidence to suggest that spatial displacement was a major concern in hot spots interventions. Crime did not simply shift from hot spots to nearby areas (see also Weisburd et al., 2006).
Braga, Anthony A. Crime Prevention Research Review No. 2: Police Enforcement Strategies to Prevent Crime in Hot Spot Areas. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2008.
Along with gaining the support of law enforcement officers in the community policing effort, members of the community must also take a stake and become an integral part of the movement. A study noted by Lord, Kuhns and Friday (2009), researchers found that more than 45 million people over the age of 15 encountered the police in some fashion. Of those encounters, one quarter involved members making first contact with police officers. Unfortunately, citizen encounters with law enforcement with negative connotations were more influential to decrease satisfaction with the police than were positive encounters to increase satisfaction (Lord, Kuhns, & Friday, 2009).
There are many problems that exist when it comes to prisoner reentry. The first being the prison experience itself. Siegel (2017) writes, the psychological and economic problems that lead offenders to recidivism are rarely addressed by a stay in prison. Despite rehabilitation efforts, the typical ex-convict is still the same undereducated, unemployed, substance-abusing, lower-socioeconomic-status male he was when arrested. The point Siegel is trying to make is that the prison experience actually worsens the chances of an ex-inmates’ success during reentry. Another reason Siegel points out is the lack of supervision once a prisoner is released back into the community.
Problem-oriented policing presents an alternative approach to policing that has gained attention in recent years among many police agencies. Problem-oriented policing grew out of twenty years of research into police practices, and differs from traditional policing strategies in four significant ways.
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 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
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
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.