The United States receives 85,000 refugees annually and many law enforcement agencies do not know how to begin the assimilation process (International Rescue Committee, 2016). One of the most challenging task for today’s law enforcement is integrating refugees with the western culture. Law enforcement agencies are faced with challenging and complex issues that demands tailored solutions. There are multiple barriers that must be overcome when dealing with refugee communities; for example, languages, cultures, religion, values, and habits. The complexity of these issues demands a hybrid solution. Although, the standard community policing philosophy principles set the foundation for community outreach, a more tangible solution must be sought.
…show more content…
Community policing cannot be a program, a unit, a strategy, a tactic or a task. It must be the core principle that lies at the foundation of a police department’s culture. Furthermore, community policing cannot be operated on a broad spectrum because every community is different; more importantly, within a community, there are sub-communities. For example, in a large community, there may be several different ethnic groups with different languages, religions, and cultural practices. These groups are the communities within a community. A hybrid, more tangible solution must be sought through individualization. By addressing each community separately, solutions are tailored to specific community needs. The individualization of community policing principle is necessary when law enforcement are challenged with a diverse …show more content…
According to the Institute for Local Government (ILG, 2015), three of the top ten principles of public engagement are transparency, authentic intent, and breadth of participation. Transparency is self-explanatory. Authentic intent must include caring and understanding in the engagement or integrating process. Many agencies fail to engage refugee and/or immigrant communities because of the lack of compassion to care and understand community needs. Thus, the engagement process with immigrant communities presents an adaptive challenge for many law enforcement across the country. It is extremely difficult to engage a community when the organization has not made the transition to community policing concept or worse have never experienced such racial diversity within their community. The breadth of participation requires law enforcement to adopt a teaching/learning mentality; moreover, it requires learning new ways to address the cultural differences and conflicts in a way that diminishes the military image and constructively harnesses a department’s
Community policing cannot be a program, a unit, a strategy, a tactic or a task. It must be the core principle that lies at the foundation of a police department’s culture. Furthermore, community policing cannot be operated on a broad spectrum because every community is different; more importantly, within a community, there are sub-communities. For example, in a large community, there may be several different ethnic groups with different languages, religions, and cultural practices. These groups are the communities within a community. A hybrid, more tangible solution must be sought through individualization. By addressing each community separately, solutions are tailored to specific community needs. The individualization of community policing principle is necessary when law enforcement are challenged with a diverse …show more content…
According to the Institute for Local Government (ILG, 2015), three of the top ten principles of public engagement are transparency, authentic intent, and breadth of participation. Transparency is self-explanatory. Authentic intent must include caring and understanding in the engagement or integrating process. Many agencies fail to engage refugee and/or immigrant communities because of the lack of compassion to care and understand community needs. Thus, the engagement process with immigrant communities presents an adaptive challenge for many law enforcement across the country. It is extremely difficult to engage a community when the organization has not made the transition to community policing concept or worse have never experienced such racial diversity within their community. The breadth of participation requires law enforcement to adopt a teaching/learning mentality; moreover, it requires learning new ways to address the cultural differences and conflicts in a way that diminishes the military image and constructively harnesses a department’s