Is Community Policing Beneficial in the Long Run?
Morgan Attenberger
Ridgewater
Composition II 122
Professor Rezac
November 19, 2016 During the 1950s-1970s, police officers were setting forth policing strategies that are now known as “traditional policing” (FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 2004). Traditional policing has been characterized as a method of responding to crime after it is committed. Over the years, major changes began making their way into the law enforcement field that affected the way that police officers did their job, like radios being put into the vehicles. With the constant changing methods of policing, some people in law enforcement refused to believe in what is defined traditional policing. In the 1970s, big cities began using a method known as community policing which caught political attention with its positive outcomes. It began to be implemented in smaller communities with federal funding and studies showed that departments employing community policing jumped from 34% in 1997 to 64% in 1999 (Hickman & Reaves, 2003, p 506). Community policing appeals to the five key elements set forth by traditional policing; routine patrol, rapid response to calls for service, arrests, investigations, and law enforcement information sharing (Community Policing Dispatch, 2008). Routine Patrol is improved with community policing because it reduces fear with police presence and sets up preventative patrol in areas of high crime rates. Technology and
Gaines, L. K., & Kappeler, V. E. (2014). Policing in america (8th ed.). (S. Decker-Lucke, Ed.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America: Anderson Publishing. Retrieved January 2017
“Community policing is, in essence, a collaboration between the police and the community that identifies and solves community problems” (U.S. Department of Justice, 1994, p. vii). Throughout the years, community policing has become a more popular strategy to help law enforcement officials control and deter crime; however, some areas across the United States has had problems in the past with communities and law enforcement working together to ensure a secure and safe environment. Although it is an officer’s duty to maintain order, keep the peace, and solve problems within the area he or she
The third and present day era of policing is Community Policing. Community policing is an organization-wide philosophy and management approach that promotes community, government and police partnerships; proactive problem solving; and community engagement to address the causes of crime, fear of crime and other community issues (Hess, Wrobleski pg. 10). Community policing goes beyond the traditional policing from the previous eras. Officers are assigned to designated areas, in which they get to know the citizens of the neighborhoods they are assigned. They use a more effective means of patrol such as foot patrol, and bicycle patrol. They do not just patrol around in vehicles, and respond to service calls. This goes back to one of Peel’s principles, “Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public. The police must obtain a more involved relationship with the citizen of a community in order for the community to help the police with their patrolling to deter crime.
In the 1800s, America became extremely industrialized. Due to all of the new upbringings there was a need for organized policing. Policing in America went through many different stages beginning with organized American law enforcement, to formal policing. Michael Moore and George Kelling inferred that there were three eras of policing; political era, professional era, and community era. The political era came first along, as that era began to go downhill, the professional era arose. As the professional era began to take drawbacks, the community era started up and is still going on in present day. There are many positives and some negatives in today’s society living in the community era.
Community policing is explained as a collaboration of community and the police working together to help identify and solve criminal activities. Additionally, the whole concept behind it is to promote public safety and to enhance the quality of life within the neighborhoods in which we reside in. Community policing is composed of two major components which are community partnership and problem solving. Community policing is a program that was initially started in the 1940’s. All of the support that was released for this program was materialized actually in the 1980’s. One of the main goals if not the most important goal was to bring in the law enforcement closer to their local public to help
Community Policing took a different perspective on crime than August Vollmer. It shows that even though police officers are trained and respond to crimes on time, it doesn’t effect the crime rates. In the past foot-patrol was in place but it quickly failed due to poor management and not enough funds for the program (Bohm & Haley, 2014, Pg. 147). Community Policing was an idea to form a bond between the police and the citizens. If the police paid more attention to the minor problems in
The justice department today is spending millions of dollars to better train the police department against bias and examine law enforcement procedures, known as community policing. Community policing has been slowing evolving over the years. The civil rights movement exposed how weak the system was in the 1960’s. The development of the model has been inspired by
Kansas City prevention was a patrol experiment; (preventative patrolling). The results of police patrolling in high crime areas did not lessen criminal activity, however the reduction of police patrolling did not result in increased criminal activity. This research shined a new light on policing and helped pave the way for future community policing.
Community oriented policing is a policing method in which officers engage with the members in area they are assigned to patrol. Foot patrol is an essential component of community oriented policing which allows for officers to overhear concerns or plans (Wetzel, 2012). Foot patrol also allows an intimate approach with the neighborhood. This intimate interaction allows for a connection to be formed which allows for intelligence gathering (Wetzel, 2012). With this increased connection with the community, officers are more likely to learn about new member in the community who are different. Community Oriented Policing is an effective tool readily available to combat terrorism.
more with less. Many police departments have had to lay off officers, and some have eliminated
and the one that seem obscure and seem not to be notice is the “means
Community policing is a policy and a strategy aimed at achieving more effective and efficient crime control, reduced fear of crime, improved quality of life, improved police services and police legitimacy, through a proactive reliance on community resources that seeks to change crime causing conditions. This assumes a need for greater accountability of police, greater public share in decision-making and greater concern for civil rights and liberties.
Perhaps, among the agencies in the criminal justice system, the police are expected to shoulder the majority of the burden in preventing and controlling crime. Thus, police agencies employ an array of policing strategies to at least lessen crimes and to satisfy the public’s demand for security, peace, and order. Policing strategies can be classified into four. These are: community policing, traditional policing, problem-oriented policing, and hot spot policing. First is the community policing were the most widely adopted police innovation of the last decade (Greene and Mastrofski, 1988; Eck and Rosenbaum 1994).
Community policing as a concept is mainly about allowing the community a voice in determining the priorities law enforcement. Allen & Sawhney (2015) defines community police as collaborative effort between police and the community they serve to customize the delivery of police services (p. 307). In order to utilize the community policing approach, it is important for agencies to have a strong bond and trust with the community they serve. Without this trust, creative policing innovations fall short. Despite what shortcomings the approach to policing may have for law enforcement, the popularity of community led or community based policing is on the rise in America. American law enforcement as an industry faces a never-ending public relations crisis, especially during the onset of tough on crime approaches prevalent in of the last forty years. Within the two decades, community police strategies based on bringing key stakeholders together to
Approaches of both community policing and traditional policing models differ in a variety of ways. The characteristics of the policing models are quite different from each other, and community based policing was considered laughable when suggested for the new approach in the early 1970s. Due to community policing’s new operating beliefs, new and unfamiliar expected officer behaviors, and that officers were being held legally responsible for their actions and inactions; the idea and implementation wasn’t widely accepted until 1980’s. Traditional policing was primarily dominated by rampant corruption and lawlessness that affected all levels of the police administration; therefore citizens had little trust if any, in the police officers of the time.