Police departments apply several key components in their style of policing. Over several eras police departments have been working to gain a positive rapport within the communities they serve. the If we consider some of the policing styles in greater depth, we can see their unique strengths and weaknesses. In this essay, we will take a closer look at two styles of policing, Community-Oriented Policing (COP) and Problem-Oriented Policing (POP). This essay will define both community-oriented policing and problem-oriented policing; address the pros and cons for both styles and identify some of the challenges that police departments face when attempting to implement both policing styles.
Community-Oriented Policing (COP) is …show more content…
POP also relies on community resources in order to successfully address crime. POP correspondingly attempts to involve citizens in crime prevention through education, negotiation, and conflict management (Schmalleger, 2015). Police officers identify problems throughout the scanning stage. Then they will collect and analyze information during the analysis stage. This is done by working with other law enforcement agencies and the community. Once the analysis phase is complete producing solutions and developing implementation protocols is completed in the response stage. The assessment phase involves evaluating the effectiveness of the response. “The results of assessment may be used to revise the response, collect more data, or even redefine the problem” (Ikerd, 2010). The POP style is proven effective. An example is the Newport News project. This project focused on recurring burglaries in low-income housing units. The departments analyzed crime patterns in the area and conducted opinion surveys. The results yielded that neglected buildings in the area presented a factor for burglary problems. The police initiated meetings within the community and government agencies to improve the building conditions in the surrounding area. Perceptibly better living conditions helped to reduce the burglary rate by 35 percent (Ikerd, 2010). Some of the advantages to this type of policing style is it provides a positive working relationship with the community as well as other agencies. It enforces crime prevention techniques and it can be a deterrence for any crime. The cons are virtually the same as in the COP strategy. Training in the various stages of crime analysis and research is