Community Policing In America

Great Essays
UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY POLICING IN 21st CENTURY AMERICA

By
Ryan Montgomery

Dr. V. Batchelor
GEN 411
April 2017

Abstract

Community policing, a model that basically entails a collaboration between police officers and the communities that they serve, has been touted as a promising avenue through which police departments can improve the quality of service and foster better public safety. In response, police departments across the United States took to this new model of policing. The purpose of the present paper is to provide an understanding of community policing in the United States today. After a scan of relevant literature on four police departments; Chicago police department, Baltimore police department, San Diego police department, and Rochester police department, it was established that despite the recognized value of community policing, police departments in the United States have failed to properly implement this new model. As a result, the trust between police officers and the communities they serve has bene broken undermining proper law enforcement. Therefore, more research should be done to establish how these departments can be incentivized to make community policing a priority and implement it effectively to foster better service and improve public safety. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Problem statement 4 Definition of community policing 5 Background 7 The origin of the idea 7 A historical examination of the role of the police 8 Project objectives 10 Methods 11 Discussion of insights 12 Police departments 12 Chicago police department 12 Baltimore police department 14 San Diego Police department 16 Rochester police department 19 Community officers and their training 20 Community feedback 21 Concluding remarks 22 References 24 Appendix 26 Appendix A – City of Chicago Police Districts and Community Areas Map 26 Appendix B – City of Baltimore map 27 Appendix D: Map of Rochester 29 Introduction Problem statement The world is a highly dynamic place. Each and every day, individuals, industries, and nations conjure up new ways of doing things and find effective approached to better address the problems and challenges that they face. In the United States, the policing department is tasked with one of the most important roles. As part and parcel of the law enforcement function, police officers and departments ensure law and order is maintained by monitoring criminal activity, investigating crimes and testifying in court, making arrests, respond to emergencies, and take part in community patrols. However, as the world continues to constantly and continuously evolve, the degree and nature of crime as well as people’s expectations and their perspectives on the role of the policing departments also changes. The responsibilities of the police officers’ stops being viewed in light of merely fighting crime, but extends to crime prevention, dispute resolution, and social assistance. To respond to these new expectations and ensure that public safety has been effectively maintained and that the quality of life is properly promoted, it is important that the police
…show more content…
The fact that most research studies have highlighted the great potential that community policing has on the quality of service within police departments, and transformations in the police force during the community era have focused on community policing does not mean that these departments are implementing the practice properly. Therefore, this objective is meant to explore how community policing practices are being implemented within the police department so as to provide a clear and practical picture of what is really happening in policing departments within the United …show more content…
The department appointed a new deputy chief of community relationships to help organize and implement programs and initiatives that will enable the police department to maintain and advance trust levels with between the community and the police officers at a time when such relationships continue to be strained in many parts of the country. To further enhance community policing and improved collaborations and engagement with the members of the community, the Rochester police department, in coordination with the teen empowerment and the Rochester institute of technology, has developed the Real Talk, Real Walk model to improve police engagement with the youth (Duda, Klofas, & Drake, 2011). The department works closely with teen empowerment to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the youth so as to improve the fragile relationships between the police and the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Docobo (2005) stated that, “community policing can fit into the overall national strategy for homeland security, little research specifically identifies community policing strategies and their direct application to the national strategy for homeland security (p. 1). The vast majority of these communities, the relationship between police and citizens has historically been tenuous, and tensions frequently remain high…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A group of scholars performed an experiment on community policing in the Journal of Experimental Criminology. The study monitored many different societies before and after community oriented policing was introduced. After community policing was introduced there was a reported five to ten percent decrease in crime and citizens were forty percent more likely to approve of the job police officers were doing. Los Angeles is a major city that uses community policing. All officers in the Los Angeles Police Department are trained in community-police problem solving where they work with the community to find common problems and develop solutions in order to solve these problems.…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This has been limited because of increasingly specialized areas in policing and concerns about security” (Course Notes). Community policing is not meant to solve all police problems, but it is there to help the police do their job, and help keep the community safe. Although it is there to help, it is not appropriate for addressing all types of criminal…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Child Support Enforcement Community policing is based on the premise that no one organization can solve local security problems. Community policing requires partnership, collaboration and joint problem-solving. With the help of the police, and other policing agencies, i.e. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services these programs can be solved. The communities these organizations serve are a major part in the success of the program.…

    • 1510 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Community Oriented Policing Law enforcement agencies do their very best to find criminals responsible for destruction that’s been or will be caused, though sometimes it can be a daunting task that seems impossible. Typically citizens look to law enforcement for help, but in special cases those very same agencies may need to look back at the citizens for help solving a case. This use of the community is referred to as community oriented policing, and if implemented correctly, can be a very efficient tool in handling cases that seem otherwise impossible to solve.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tension between the police and minority communities has been and continues to be one among the foremost pressing problems facing American police organizations. The history of American law enforcement has been tainted by lawfully sanctioned, disparate service delivery, and damaged by the enforcement of racially driven laws and statutes. Consequently, the current relationship between minorities and also the police in America is one that has been impacted by the historical legacies of slavery, segregation, and discrimination, all half and parcel of racism at the social, institutional, and individual levels. First and foremost, the community era’s generic approach to improving police-community relations has morphed into the additional modern practices of community- and problem-oriented policing…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The relationships between law enforcement personnel and members of the community…

    • 212 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Fort Worth Police Department is a prime example of a large urban police department that is seeking to implement process-based policing. One major example of this is that the Fort Worth Police Department has recently volunteered to be one of six pilot cities nationwide to participate in the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. The idea behind this is exactly what Tyler and Huo (2002) were trying to communicate – that when the public sees law enforcement as legitimate, they begin to police themselves and cooperate more, thus leading to greater officer safety. David Kennedy, the Director of the National Network for Safe Communities and one of the major contributors to the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice, provides this powerful insight in his article “Getting Beyond Ferguson”: While nobody with any sense would deny the reality of racism, it is increasingly clear that people and institutions can act in ways that look, smell, and taste like racism; play into narratives and understandings framed by racism; and produce results that might just as well have been produced by racism: all…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Campus Policing Essay

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages

    41) by using three categories: Administrative Support and Departmental Leadership, Community Outreach, and Operational Strategies. Consequently, the author presented analysis and discussion with the results showing the level of campus police involvement in community-oriented efforts and how it is compared to the level of city police agencies (p.45) Findings: The comparison led Bromley to conclude that campus and municipal police indeed display much likeness in their community policing practices. In all three categories, both obtained similar results, though not always satisfactory ones, as for example, the low proportion of both sides that had written community police plans and evaluated their officers on their problem-solving projects. Thus, improvements should be made in areas with the lowest agency involvement in order to campus and municipal policing be successful, in case community policing becomes…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are a number of police officers and police departments that employ the community policing philosophy in order to help members of the community that they serve daily. One example of a police department employing the community policing philosophy would be the Columbia, South Carolina Police Department. They feel that because of the many issues around the country today has brought policing issues to the forefront of the public dialogue and has created an unlike of trust between the community and police (columbiapd.net. n.d.). Unfortunately, this is not something that just started but has been going on for years. Therefore, the department has found themselves with a critical opportunity to engage with the local community, government officials as well as law enforcement counterparts in order to…

    • 1011 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the years law enforcement agencies have looked for methods that could be used to promote safe practices in communities and deter crime. But for this to occur agencies and communities must make a collective effort to develop their partnerships. To do this they must develop a plan, establish policies and initiatives based on goals that will benefit everyone in the long-run. Community policing is that strategy of choice that can reduce help ensure public safety, the reason is because it departs from the historical representation of policing. It is a "philosophy that significantly expands the role of police among the general public...…

    • 187 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police crime Control Strategies Student Ed. Delmar Cengage Learning Retrieved from Teacher, Law (November 2013). Advantages and Disadvantages of Community PolicingRetrieved from https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminology/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-community-policing.php?cref= Retrieved from Diamond, D & Weiss, D (2009) Community Policing: Looking to Tomorrowhttps://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-w0520-pub.pdf What Works in Community Policing Lawrence, S & McCathy, B (2013…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Community policing requires changes to every part of policing, including its supervision and management, training, investigations, performance evaluation, accountability and even its values” (Stone and Travis, 2011, p. 5). The innovations of community oriented policing also helps officers identify themselves and their role in the social order. Stone and Travis (2011) further stated, “Innovations help supervisors identify officers at greater risk of engaging in misconduct” (p. 16). Police organizations must develop innovative strategies in order to be effective and efficient when faced with “technological advances, globalization of crime and increased scrutiny” (Chrismas, 2013, p. 2). Innovation could improve police and citizen relationships, and it could also help police supervisors counsel their subordinates regarding police misconducts such as excessive force.…

    • 1639 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The differences between community policing and traditional policing are important to understand. Community policing puts society and quality of living as a priority, which can target the real issues of society (Carter & Sapp, 1994), whereas traditional law enforcement focuses on arrest and investigation. Random patrolling and other activities that law enforcement do is still a part of strategies, but it is not a primary objective for community policing. Creating a safe community, satisfaction with the police, and decreasing fear of crime are objectives (Wycoff & Manning, 1983). Community policing allows for a “broad police function” (Kelling, Trojanowicz, & Moore, 1999).…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crime Control Strategies

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When it comes to law enforcement there are two types of strategies used to make police officers more efficient and effective in their line of work. Throughout this paper, we will discuss the two different types of strategies- community relations and crime control strategies. In order to understand the strategies available to police officers, it’s important that we look at all the responsibilities and tasks officers have to face. Most people don’t really think about the type of situations a police officer faces on a daily basis. It can be something as simple as a traffic stop to a high-speed chase or even a shootout.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics