Benefits Of Community Policing

Law Enforcement has many different aspects and components but the most basic and yet the most important is community policing. Community policing is an organizational strategy that allows the police and community residents to work closely to solve the problem of crime in their community. Police agencies use community policing in order to become better involved and known in the community. This tactic also gets the residents of the community more involved in the community in which they live. Community policing has a lot of different benefits such as bringing the community together. Community policing builds a strong bond and trust between the members of the community and the police force. The tactic also helps to deter crime. Through the formation …show more content…
Having officer at the dispose of the community is a great way to make sure that people have a good idea on what activities are illegal or criminal. Educating the community is important because often time’s people call police lines with problems that are not necessarily criminal but personal. Although some of these problems are important but they may not be seen as urgent criminal matters. In incidents such as this it is beneficial to have a trusted well known police official to work as a mediator or voice of reason so the problem will not escalate further. This gives the inhabitants of the neighborhood a stronger sense of responsibility for the things that occur within their environment. Another great reason for community policing is that it changes the reputation of the community. Through the help of officers and members of the community people can transform areas that are well known for their criminal activity into better …show more content…
There are even other programs that offer money for valid information on criminal activities in their neighborhood although this may not be the most noble reason to report crime it is often time effective. Also by incorporating programs like this into the community it reduces the fear of police officers. In many communities people view police officers not as their protectors or friends, but as their enemies. This feeling is usually caused by parenting or a self-learned fear of authority or simply a bad experience with an officer. When people have a bad image of police in their minds it makes it very difficult for police to correctly do their job. Mindsets like these make people hesitant to give police information or cooperate with them. When his happens it makes polices` process of investigating crimes much harder because it makes it hard to acquire witnesses and other evidence in order to solve or prevent crimes. Many people often times don’t take this lack of cooperation into consideration while still expecting the officers to do their job in an expedient manner. Although in some cases cooperation from the community is not necessary in many cases it would make the process much quicker and less stressful on the officer and the