Community policing philosophy integrates strategies in law enforcement that encourage local organizations and community partnership and engagement to solve problems in the community and to proactively deal with issues in public safety (Kappeler & Gaines, 2005). Such issues of crime include theft, robbery, and burglary. In the U.S, the community policing philosophy was adopted following the 9/11 terrorist attack, and the need to prevent such future cases was deemed paramount. With community policing, people can be vigilant of their own safety through giving information that could be useful leads to combating crime and terrorism (Sullivan, 2005). In addition, the U.S adopted community policing because police resources were becoming overused when team policing was used for law enforcement in communities. Team policing, which involved patrolling the neighborhood of communities and knowing them better failed. Community policing was the best alternative for community safety.
Community policing is beneficial to both the community involved and the police. The most attractive aspect of community policing to the members of the community is the reduced fear of crime or terrorism. People engaged in such policing partnerships feel more safety for their lives, property, businesses and movement. Consequently, their quality of life is improved. In addition, the decentralized communication between the public and police facilitates effective communication through which information concerning safety is shared immediately. At the same time, the police and police processes benefit from community policing in various ways. First, since police officers are assigned to different fixed communities, the process of making decisions is delegated to lower level personnel and bureaucracies are minimized. In this case, the police feel encouraged to solve problems on their own without consulting supervisors or officers up the hierarchy.
However, like any other changing trends in the society, community policing has drastically changed over the past. Some aspects of previous policing are not befitting to contemporary communities because they can jeopardize public safety, and at the same time, the current communities are characterized by new and innovative crimes. Prior models of policing were coupled with political influence, centralized communication, corruption, narrow roles (Emsley, 2007). The interests of different people and organizations used to stall the progress and effectiveness of police activities. The political influence in the police structure and organization concentrated more on acquiring power and controlling the public or the police themselves for some specific interests. The centralized communication model in policing also encouraged corruption and slow decision-making processes. Corruption could involve either political groups or community members who needed favors. In addition, previous policing did not engage full criminal law enforcement, crime prevention and problem solving; rather, they concentrated on narrow roles (Emanuel, 2010). There were few cases of immediate response to crime because information was not sufficient. Such models of policing are not acceptable in contemporary communities because they are ineffective in solving problems and combating crime.
In conclusion, adopting a community policing philosophy is important for current communities because it is more effective. The joint effort in problem-solving in communities means that people are more responsible of their safety. However, there is a need to set limits and standardized procedures for this model of policing because the police officers have increasing become ‘slaves’ to the communities. Over involvement in communities has can lead to unending emergency calls, which might not be genuine, and sometimes criminals take advantage of that (Ratcliffe, 2011). In addition, there need to be a certain level of trust between the police and the community for a good partnership.
References
Emanuel, S. (2010). Criminal law (4th ed.). New York, NY: Aspen.
Emsley, C. (2007). Community Policing/Policing and Communities: Some Historical Perspectives. Policing, 1(2), 235-243. doi:10.1093/police/pam028.
Kappeler, V., & Gaines, L. (2005). Community policing: A contemporary perspective (4th ed.). Newark, N.J.: LexisNexis Anderson Pub.
Ratcliffe, J. (2011). Intelligence-led policing. London: Routledge.
Sullivan, L. (2005). Encyclopedia of law enforcement. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
