I consider community policing the most important strategy in Policing. Community policing can help to reduce any negative portrayal placed on law enforcement today. Community policing can raise citizen trust of law enforcements and alleviate tension and conflict between the police and citizens. And, community policing can result in more effective law enforcement. For these reasons, community policing is the most important strategy today in policing.
Community policing is the idea that a partnership between the police and the community can impact the effective of law enforcement. Community policing consists of various strategies developed by a law enforcement agency. These strategies have reportedly been effective in communities.
Community policing results in a reduction of the negative portrayal of law enforcement by a community. This occurs because policing become personalized and the citizens and officers work together to not only identify the problems of the community but also to solve the problems,
Citizen trust would also be increased with the implementation of community policing. Trust arises most predominantly when there are open channels of communication. Trust also arises when law enforcement is more open to hearing what citizens have to say and the suggestions that citizens make.
Law enforcement can potentially be more effective when community policing methods are implemented. This is because of community involvement. When the community itself is involved more would be at stake for the citizens. They know their neighbors and the neighborhood and they are aware when something is not right.
An effective method of community policing has been the neighborhood watch program. This program was created in 1970. I do not see or hear of many neighborhood watch programs these days. This really could make communities more safe as it brings the neighbors together, and in a sense the residents of the neighborhood become guardians for the police. A neighborhood watch program can include an entire neighborhood, a business district or one block in a neighborhood. The citizens have the ability to define the extent of the program themselves. The neighborhood watch program then becomes the eyes and the ears for the police. Research has even shown that neighborhood watch programs have reduced crime in neighborhoods and have also improved the quality of the neighborhood.
It would be worth it for a law enforcement agency to implement community policing and a starting people that is less costly and uses less resources is the neighborhood watch program. The program unites the neighborhood, and it can reduce not only crime in the neighborhood but also the fear of crime. A neighborhood watch program also enhances the overall safety and security of a neighborhood.
Another aspect of community policing that I find important is how community policing works at the street level. I believe it is the officers at the street level who play the most important role in community policing as they are the ones literally in the community. Street level officers, under a community policing principle, would have discretion in providing police services. They are the ones who bring the police force face to face to the citizens. This does not include the actual patrol officers as they have little engagement with the citizens themselves while on patrol.
Discuss what the most interesting part of Policing is to you and what you learned in this course about policing or approaches to Policing that you did not previously know (3 Pages).
The most interesting aspect of policing that I got from this course if the implementation of a standard model of police practices. I have the opinion that standard models would not be effective in a country as diverse as America. Urban areas are completely different that rural areas and policing should be different just based on this. Also, areas of the country are much different. The east coast and the Midwest have very few things in common. The people are very different behaviorally. What means one thing on the east coast could mean something completely different in the Midwest. Additionally, areas of cities vary greatly in respect to culture. To implement a standard model of police practices, practices that are the same, in each of these very different areas would likely not result in effective policing.
The assumption that the standard model of policing practices rests on is faulty. The assumption is that strategies that are generic can be used throughout an entire jurisdiction and be effective. This does not consider the different aspects mentioned above nor does it consider the level of crime or the nature of the crime that occurs in the area.
Standard model of police practices includes increasing the police force, engaging in random patrol, and ensuring quick response to emergency calls. The model also includes generic methods for enforcement, arrest and investigations. The focusing on the means of policing instead of on the effectiveness of policing, in my opinion, would not reduce crime. In order for policing to be effective, it must be personalized and specific. This is why I think that community policing is the most important strategy that can be implemented in law enforcement today. It does not involve standards and generic practices. It involves the officer with the citizens themselves. If officer simply engage in standard practices that are implemented in an entire jurisdiction without consideration to culture, crime right and other aspects of the particular community, there would not be an effective law enforcement. With community policing, officers get involved, become respectful and listen to citizens which would increase police legitimacy, which would in turn increase the effectiveness of policing.
As I have considered the standard model, I have to wonder if this is not the real problem in law enforcement today. In this class, we discussed how New York had decreased its crime rate after having the worst crime rate in the nation. This was attributed to more involvement by the officers in the community and more personalization. I think that this would include less standardization. I really find this topic interesting and would be a great research project someday.
There are many other areas of policing that I have found interesting that we have discussed in class. I think, however, the concept of standardization has taken this country to places that are not pleasant and has forgotten the diversity that is engrained in our society.
What I learned that I did not know was the history of policing. I did not know that in early America, there were simply night watchmen being on the lookout for fires or animals or disruptive behavior. I did not know that crime solving was not done by police and that it was a private matter. I found it interesting that the first private detectives were often ex criminals who worked for a fee. The progression of the police force was obviously needed due to the increase in the overall population and urban areas in America.
I had no idea that the function of police did not turn to crime fighting until the 1970’s. That really is not that long ago and to see how far America has come a long way.
I was also not aware of the many theories behind policing. For instance, I had not thought of the normative sponsorship theory in relation to policing. The theory posits that most people are good and will cooperate with others. And, common goals assist in cooperation. Common goals arise with common values and common belief systems. I also that the critical social theory was interesting as it relates to policing. This relies on enlightenment, empowerment and emancipation. If a community believes in these three ideas, then crime in a community would likely be reduced as a result.
Discuss what you learned about yourself during this course (1 Page).
In this course, I learned quite a bit about policing that I did not know before. I had always known that I wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement. Yet, when asked, I never could really provide an answer that satisfied me. I would say that I wanted to protect the people, or that I want to keep people safe, or that I want to reduce and prevent crime. These were all truths but I knew there was a much deeper desire, I just did not know how to express that, until I took this course.
What I learned about myself during this course is that I want to work in law enforcement because I am a problem solver by nature. I want to do more than prevent and reduce crime, I want to understand the causes of crime. I want to better understand the human race. I am very excited to continue my pursuit in this career field as I have learned that I am interested in not only the nature and methods of policing but also in the core concepts of policing. I not only want to assist in reducing and preventing crime, I want to better understand crime that way, as a society, we can better understand crime. This understanding, in my opinion, could possibly result in a reduction in crime. Even if only one crime is prevented due to my actions, it would have been worth every minute of classroom training that I have engaged in. So, being in the field of law enforcement is not a simple desire that I have.
References
Community Policing. Tarlton State University. Power Point Presentation.
How We Have Always Done It. Tarlton State University. Power Point Presentation.
Problem-Oriented Policing. Tarlton State University. Power Point Presentation.
Research Role in Policing. Tarlton State University. Power Point Presentation.
