When dealing with small town police departments, many issues tend to arise when comparing the problems faced in a small town to an urban environment (Johnson, 2000). Some factors that small-town areas face include budget constraints, response time difficulties, and community relations (Gordner, 2006). These issues greatly affect rural areas due to a high poverty rates, low unemployment, and detrimental funding issues (Gordner, 2006). These problems cause small-town police departments to have difficulties in funding the detrimental services which are often required by law enforcement (Ioimo et al., 2011). One factor that is directly affecting small police departments in rural crime trends such as the severe prevalence of violent crimes (Johnson,
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Due to this issue, the citizens’ demand for services is difficult to meet (Johnson, 2000). With the recent crime trends, Sincreasing by fifty-three percent in rural areas between the years of 1983 and 1997, the stress on rural police departments continue to grow (Johnson, 2000). A recent study conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows an overall decrease in crime nationwide, however there has been a large spike in rural areas (Johnson, 2000). Some city’s violent crime rates, including rape, motor vehicle theft, and robberies have increased in occurrences as much as ten percent (Johnson, …show more content…
This issue has caused multiple studies being conducted in small town police departments to discover the key differences in areas where crime rates have dropped versus areas with troubling crime trends (Weisheit, et al., 1994). While there is less information known about whether proper operations are occurring in rural departments, it was discovered by research conducted in 1994 that the issues in rural areas were not the police officers alone, but the efficiency issues with the lack of proper funding (Weisheit et al., 1994). 1994 was the year where many departments witnessed a large spike in the crime rates, such as homicide, crop thefts, as well as a culture of mistrust in law enforcement operations (Johnson, 2000). This distrust caused many internal conflicts in the communities and still poses many implications (Weisheit et al.,
Due to this issue, the citizens’ demand for services is difficult to meet (Johnson, 2000). With the recent crime trends, Sincreasing by fifty-three percent in rural areas between the years of 1983 and 1997, the stress on rural police departments continue to grow (Johnson, 2000). A recent study conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows an overall decrease in crime nationwide, however there has been a large spike in rural areas (Johnson, 2000). Some city’s violent crime rates, including rape, motor vehicle theft, and robberies have increased in occurrences as much as ten percent (Johnson, …show more content…
This issue has caused multiple studies being conducted in small town police departments to discover the key differences in areas where crime rates have dropped versus areas with troubling crime trends (Weisheit, et al., 1994). While there is less information known about whether proper operations are occurring in rural departments, it was discovered by research conducted in 1994 that the issues in rural areas were not the police officers alone, but the efficiency issues with the lack of proper funding (Weisheit et al., 1994). 1994 was the year where many departments witnessed a large spike in the crime rates, such as homicide, crop thefts, as well as a culture of mistrust in law enforcement operations (Johnson, 2000). This distrust caused many internal conflicts in the communities and still poses many implications (Weisheit et al.,