In modern-day society, the evolution of policing and law enforcement has undergone significant changes, yet some argue that these changes have not been for the better. As law enforcement reflects on their past practices, they have implemented new policies and protocols, allowing them to move beyond their mistakes and strive for societal growth and well-being. This evolution spans through three distinct eras of policing: the Political era, characterized by corruption and bribery; the Reform era, focused on technological adaptation and eliminating corruption; and the Community era, marked by professionalism and community support. After over a century of trial and error, responsibilities and strategies for policing were defined, emphasizing the …show more content…
Recently, mental health protocols have gained significant importance, especially for officers who serve as first responders to such calls. Recent studies suggest that between a quarter to two-thirds of police calls that involve mental health crises could be handled by mental health experts or other first responders (Dee & Pyne, 2022). These noncriminal and non-mergency calls deplete police resources and money, but also raise this critical question: who will be available to assist the one-fourth of callers in need of immediate help? Police officers have a mandate to serve and protect; this includes maintaining public safety, enforcing laws, upholding order, and preventing and investigating crimes (Brodeur et al., 2024). So, police officers are responsible for responding to mental health calls. A person going through a mental health crisis is unpredictable, you never know if or when someone will become a danger to themselves and others around them. Officers' responsibilities are to maintain public safety and to protect the public. Having the police on standby could potentially mean life or death for the individual in psychological distress. I also advocate, as part of training, that officers undergo additional protocols and situational training to enhance their capability in handling these calls. These trainings can range from mental …show more content…
Law enforcement's role is to serve and protect; it is their responsibility to uphold the law regardless of the type of crime involved. However, enforcing all crimes could strain police and community relations, potentially resulting in decreased funding. So, police should investigate all crimes, but prioritize the ones that are serious and pose a threat to public safety. Responding to and enforcing all crimes might drain resources and time; it is important for police departments to allocate those resources where they are needed the most. Effective policing can help reduce crime rates and protect individuals. Considering the role of law enforcement, the question arises: Is Community Policing the strategy the police should be using today? Community Policing is a philosophy that encourages interactive partnerships between officers and the community (lapdonline, 2024). This strategy is used to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods and decrease fear. It also helps strengthen the relationship between officers and the community. Community Policing has been shown to be effective at reducing crime. In Camden, NJ, there was a 52% reduction in violent crimes following the implementation of Community Policing over the course of one decade (Manresa, 2023). Being able to build a foundation of trust with a community allows for better communication, which allows for better policing and safer environments. While
American policing originated from early English law and is profoundly influenced by its history. Early law enforcement in England took on two forms of policing, one of which heavily influenced modern policing and it is known as the watch (Potter, 2013). The watch consisted, at first, of volunteers which had to patrol the streets for any kind of disorder including crime and fire. After men attempted to get out of volunteering by paying others, it became a paid professional position (Walker & Katz, 2012). The three eras of policing in America are shaped by these early ideas and practices of law enforcement. Throughout time, sufficient improvements and advancements have been made from the political era to the professional era and finally the community era which attempts to eliminate corruption, hire qualified officers and create an overall effective law enforcement system.
A critical examination of police departments across the United States would show that while law enforcement agencies do common work, few agencies utilize the identical same strategy to tackle crime and disorder problems within their communities. Many agencies still deploy a traditional response model to address routine and emergency calls for service. The response model places a high emphasis on fast response times to calls for service and effective investigations which result in arrest and prosecution. However, more and more agencies are implementing variations of new strategies to deal with crime and disorder issues within their jurisdictions. Some of these newer strategies include community-policing, hot-spot policing and
Schmalleger, F. (2013). Policing: History and Structure. Criminal Justice Today An Introduction Text For the 21st Century (12th ed., ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Police corruption is not a new problem in society and there is not a standard way to deal with it. Police officers have enormous power and responsibility and are asked to make difficult decisions. There is not an exact guide to behavior for police officers so their discretion can lead to corruption (Monkkonen, 1999). The existence of police corruption in America has created a negative public view of law enforcement. Police corruption has deteriorated the relationship between law enforcement and the community. In the past four years, more than 500 officers in 47 cities have been convicted of various federal crimes. Local and state authorities in 32 other jurisdictions are either engaged in active investigations or prosecutions of dirty cops (Johnson,1998) .
On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old mentally ill young man named Adam Lanza walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and shot 20 children and six adults. This was the catalyst for a national debate surrounding the issues of mass shootings, media violence, and especially gun control. Under the direction of House leadership, the only psychologist in Congress began studying comprehensive reform of the United States mental healthcare system. One year later, Dr. Tim Murphy, Representative from Pennsylvania’s 18th District introduced H.R. 3717, The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. The bill’s intent is to address the lack of treatment options at the local level, the absence of science in funding decisions, and to fundamentally restructure the governance of our national mental health treatment system. The following discussion describes the background of the bill and uses the special interest groups that have come out in support or opposition of the legislation to exemplify group theory.
As a first responder, police officers can often encounter many different cases where an individual is reported to be unconscious inside a vehicle. Usually upon arrival, the officer will try and make contact with the subject to investigate the situation. Often times, the officer will discover that the person has either a medical condition, is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or just hasn’t gotten enough sleep (Randall, 2011). However, in recent years there has been a growing trend occurring in the United States that is affecting the safety of first responders. In this trend people are releasing chemicals within confined spaces, such as a vehicle, to commit suicide. Chemical suicides are very dangerous to anyone within the vicinity because the fumes are extremely toxic (Oreshan & Stevens, 2011). Individuals that attempt to rescue a suicidal subject could be putting themselves at risk of exposure, which can cause serious injury or death. Being a first responder, it is important to understand the increasing threat of chemical suicides and how they are typically performed, the warning signs and proper safety procedures to use, and the treatments to this type of chemical exposure.
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
Currently, the police academy is six months long, giving instructors a limited amount of time to cover the basics of search and seizure, reports, defensive tactics, and other necessary in-depth educational topics. As a result, the lack of time results in the trainees lacking proper training in communicating with the mentally ill. Regarding this, according to the academic journal, “A Co-Responder Model for Policing Mental Health Problems at Crime Hot Spots: Findings from a Pilot Project” the author stresses that, “police are often the first and only community resource to respond to a situation where a person is having a mental health crisis, but they do not necessarily have the training and resources to respond properly to these encounters” (par.1). By implementing a mental health and safety course in the academy, this course allows deputy trainees to learn and practice their knowledge in a learning environment. This will improve the communication between law enforcement and the mentally ill, which is likely to increase relationships within 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.
Policy Description The goal of Mental Health First Aid Act aims to increase participants ’knowledge about mental health in general as well as about common disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, psychosis, substance abuse, self-harm, suicidal behaviours) and available treatment options. Another aim is to reduce stigma surrounding mental disorders, as negative attitudes have an adverse impact on supportive and help-seeking behaviours (Hadlaczky, et.al., 2014 as cited in Kitchener & Jorm, 2006). The Act is designed to give ordinary people the skills to help someone developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. A tenet of the course is early intervention to prevent mental illness from developing into something more severe.
Corruption in policing has existed for many years and will continue to exist. “Police corruption is loosely identified in the literature as deviant, dishonest, improper, unethical, or criminal behavior by a police officer”(Barker; Roebuck, 1974).
Introduction Understanding mental illness in today’s society can be extremely difficult if an individual is unaware of the signs and symptoms. Some people do not seek to understand this population unless it benefits the individuals personally and/or professional. In order to help those and stop the stigma of mental illness, it will take the community to help create more resources and awareness. Investing time to receive awareness and training can help the mental health population as a whole. The stigma of mental health can be reduced tremendously if individual understood the population.
This brief essay will examine more closely the topics of disaster, PTSD, and psychological first aid. Disasters in the in this context come in two forms. Natural (earthquake, hurricane, floods, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, drought or any other form of disaster not created by man) and man-made (war, rape, abuse or any other traumatic event created by a human and projected onto another human). Each of these events listed above both natural and man-made have the potential to produce Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The question ultimately becomes whether or not utilizing the principles of psychological first aid can prevent or mitigate the severity of either or both of these disorders.