Neighborhood Watcher Community Policing

Law enforcement and communities work together in community policing. Law enforcement should not try and fight crime alone, but their partner is the community (Nicholl, 1999). This increases the resources, tools, and skills the police have. When law enforcement implements the use of Neighborhood Watch, citizen patrols, citizen police academies, and community education can help improve community involvement. The police can help support the community in self-organization, self-policing, and self-help which can help improve the quality of life and reduce crime (Nicholl, 1999). Supporting victims, providing surveillance, and being willing witnesses when crimes occur are all part of community involvement (Williams, B. 2005). A common way community members become involved in policing is by participating in Neighborhood Watch programs (Garofalo, J., & McLeod, M. , 1989). It is important policies are implemented correctly as they are intended to. Neighborhood Watch was created to help keep neighborhoods safe but when implemented incorrectly it can cause harm (Finegan, 2013). It is important that members of Neighborhood Watch do not abuse power by harming and harassing people. There have been incidents of …show more content…
This helps law enforcement officials become a part of their community and increase the flexibility of policing operations (Casey, 2010). Law enforcement agencies who decide to use community policing can have officers who are resistant to change (McCold & Wachtel, 1996). Decentralization in community policing also supports the operation of steorefonts and other decentralized police stations to become more accessible to larger amount of members to the public (Casey, 2010). Officers can think it is improper to decentralize since it increases discretion and makes them more independent. There is fear of corruption due to increases in discretion and independence (Schafer,