Community-oriented policing: strategies and implementation

Community Oriented Policing

new and comprehensive strategy against crime: Community Policing:

For the purpose of reducing neighborhood crimes, creating a sense of security and reduce fear of crimes among the citizens and improving the quality of life in the community, the community policing strategy will be proved to be the most effective one. The accomplishment of all these objectives to develop a healthy and clean society can be done by combining the efforts of the police department, the members of the community and the local government. "The concept of community policing is not very new however it has gained attention in last few years. It is an approach to make a collaborative effort between the police and the community in order to identify and solve the problems of crime, societal disorder and disturbances. It combines all the element of the community to find out the solutions to the social problems. Its foundations are laid on the basis of close and communally beneficial ties between the police and the members of the community." (Gordon, 141) The strategy to adopt community policing will help in finding a way to reenergize the communities. It is apparent that a strongly built and self-sufficient community will be extremely helpful in creating an atmosphere in which serious crime will not flourish.

By following the approach of community policing we will be able to seek the input and ideas of all community members in an effort of preserving our neighborhoods. Moreover, there is a need to promote the concept of community policing, by our leaders at the highest levels of government. Hence it will also play an important role in directing the way government services are provided at the community level. "As in this approach the police department and the community will work together towards a common objective, the idea of crime prevention will gain new importance. By working together they will be able to cope up more effectively with the problems of disorder and neglect that can give way to serious crimes in the society." (Gordon, 45-150) Crime prevention takes on renewed importance in community policing as the police and the community become partners in addressing problems of disorder and neglect that can breed serious crime. With the strengthening of the relationship between the police and the community, they will be able to better focus on the issues relating to the causes of crime. The most beneficial aspect of the strategy of community policing will be that it will recognizes the fact that involvement and participation of the community members will facilitate the process and will provide new ways for controlling of crime. At the one hand the police department will keep focusing on handling crime fighting and law enforcement activities, and on the other the police and community will work as partners to improve conditions so that they can avoid such situations that can encourage criminal behavior. This will allow paying attention on crime prevention on a large scale by using the available resources of the community. In this effort the patrol officers and deputies will be the main responsible figures in providing community policing as they usually handle the policing needs of the community on a day-to-day basis.

The Future of community policing:

For defining the future of community-based policing it is recommended to define a procedure of how will it be implemented. The primary aspect of community policing is an action plan or a set of beliefs and objectives which provides the path to follow and move towards a certain goal by implementing the objectives in the form of actions. Community policing itself is a vision which becomes reality when objectives are defined and goals are achieved according to the unique needs of a particular community. The values and objectives should be kept in mind while trying to achieve the goal of developing a clean system of community-based policing so that it may help in reaching a certain point of success. "For the purpose of evaluating and analyzing the system of community policing and defining its success there is a need to adopt some measures. One is to conduct a day-to-day evaluation of the community policing strategy and this evaluation process is required to be changed to adjust with the objectives of the community policing. Moreover, the strategy of community policing should be accepted by all and a commitment should be made to increase the strength of the system when it is felt to be necessary." (Gordon, 45-150)

There is a distinct difference between community-based policing and other models of policing and that is the way we can measure success, "measures such as crime rates, arrest rates and response times are obsolete, A (Moore)"these numbers have little to do with community needs and they only represent serious committed crimes and not the increase of public disorder (or fear) or other so called non-priorities"(Kelling, 21-22)

To analyze the performance of community policing and to find out that whether it is working as an effective solution, it will be required to find out that are the actual problems be addressed or are we reacting to them? Is there any significant level of encouragement given to the police officers to cooperate with the general public? Have we successfully built an environment of streets free of drug dealers, bandits, looters, disruptive teenagers, begging prostitutes, or drive by shooters? In a nut shell the purpose of community-based policing is to develop and grow a highly self sufficient and strong community where there is no question of crime and social disorder. (Gordon, 141) The effective implementation is going to bring sufficiently positive impact to reduce neighborhood crimes, helping in reducing fear of crime, and enhancing the quality of life in the community. This is accomplished by combining the efforts and the resources of the police, local government, and community members. Following all these guidelines and values at least a new sense of community and commitment to the society can be attained and at the most the true vision of community can be achieved. "It should be understood at the outset that the object to be attained is the prevention of crime. To this, great and every effort, of the police is to be directed. The security of person and property and the preservation of a police establishment will thus be better affected than by the detection and punishment of the offender after he has succeeded in committing the crime"... (Gordon, 45-150)

Keeping a Balance:

For achieving effective community policing, the best level of contact and cooperation between patrol officers and community members is needed so that the officer develops an intimate knowledge of the daily businesses of the community and becomes a familiar figure to community members. As it is the core of the strategy of community policing, to develop a significant level of trust, to establish and maintain mutual to achieve the objective of community partnership. The feeling of trust between both the parties will provide the police an opportunity to gain greater access to valuable information that can lead to the prevention of and solution of crimes. This will also help in facilitating the crime reduction process and achieve support for police activities and provide a basis for a productive working relationship with the community that will find solutions to local problems. As there is a considerable level of distrust among most of our counties and communities with respect to the attitude of the police, the police department will have to make highly concentrated and strong efforts to develop a sense of trust and form a bond of understanding and cooperation among the members of the community. This effort will not stop at any given point and will needed to be continued on a permanent basis but it is very essential for effective community policing. This requires a balance to be made between the objective to wipe out the crimes and to respect the individual's freedom and rights given by the law. However, one thing should be clear in every one's mind that community policing will not provide an immediate solution. Instead, a long-term commitment is needed in this regard on behalf of the police in order to work with community members to reach mutually agreed-upon goals. This goal of forming lasting partnerships to fully wipe out and erase the underlying causes of crime and social disorders will take a significant deal of effort, time and patience on the part of all involved. In addition to this the law enforcement authorities have found and strongly believe on that in addition to bringing police closer to the people, community policing brings other several noticeable benefits. By effectively using the available talents and resources within the communities, the society will be able to help extend severely strained police resources. "With the increase in police interaction with the community to a more and more positive level the police will be able to form a productive partnership and this will lead to greater satisfaction with police services among the community and increased job satisfaction among officers. When a community will successfully reduce crime within its circle it will allow them to allocate more police resources to services that have the greatest impact on the quality of community life." (Kelling, 4-5)

The policy of a mandatory arrest will discourage crimes among the communities and will help in developing a stronger sense of security. Moreover, it will help the police to practice crime reduction more freely and more with ease without any distraction.

On the other hand, it may raise concerns relating to the individual freedom and the legal protection given to a citizen. In addition to this some of the police officers may misuse this privilege.

Statement of the problem and the purpose of the study:

The fear of crime and the existence of criminal activities within a society not only affects the social and other creative activities of that society but also influences the style of living of the people of that particular locality. The absence of security not only creates disorder in the society but is harmful for its long-term growth as well. With all the developments and technological advancements that we human beings have made, the problem of security has also increased side by side creating great concern among the general pubic. To resolve this issue, the concept of community policing has been brought forward and has been successfully exercised in many areas. This concept has helped the members of the community or group to ensure increased security and has allowed them to actively participate in the function of crime prevention. The main focus of our study is to analyze the concept of community policing and to find out as to how effective the strategy of community policing has been. "The primary concept of community policing is to let the police officers and private citizens' work together in creative ways in order to effectively solve existing problems related to crime, fear of crime, social and physical disorder, and neighborhood decay." (James, 21-54)

We will also study the guidelines on which the concept of community policing is based. The concept of community policing has forced the police departments to develop a friendly relationship with the law-abiding people in the community and to cooperate with them in several security and crime prevention related issues. "This has allowed the citizens of the societies to have a greater level of control over their personal security related issues and to influence the local police priorities. Furthermore, the concept of C.O.P has also given the citizens an opportunity to improve the overall quality of life in their neighborhoods. Another major productive change brought by the implementation of this concept is that it has shifted the focus of police work from simply handling random calls and resolving complaints to solving the overall community problems." (Gordon, 141)

The concept of C.O.P is not limited to the interaction between the community members and the police officers but it involves certain problem solving approaches. The community police officers are given necessary training for organizing, solve different crime related problems, and serve as a resource and facilitator for the community members who seek them for the satisfaction of their security needs. In this regard, the community police officers of the particular locality continuously interact with the citizens through meetings, celebrations and other informal modes of interaction. These informal meetings and interactions with the citizens help them to track the criminal activities prevailing in the locality. In this way they are fully informed as to when and where any particular criminal activity is going on. The concept of C.O.P is based on the philosophy of policing by building strong relationships with the members of the community and to focus on the strategies that help them to prevent crime rather than to arrest those who have committed crime.

The concept of community policing is believed to a unique idea as it relies on input from the common members of the society and not limits it to the opinion leaders or community leaders. It seeks input from all members and considers them equally important. In short this approach can be well defined as a "grass root" approach as its focus is on eliminating crime from the grass root level. With the introduction of the community policing system, the societies, which are engaged in practicing it, have started a rethinking or reconsidering process to find out as to how the police system works and how to bring productive changes in it in order to make it most efficient and effective.

The paper will also study the approaches through which the police personnel are trained to deal with a wide array of situations and a range of behavioral problems even though each one of them is confusing in its own way. The difference that community policing approach can make, in solving the issues relating to rime prevention and security, is that the police department can get more involved in analyzing and responding to the specific problems brought to them by each and every citizen and thus minimizing the chances of the occurrence of any crime. The paper has also discussed some other key components of community policing such as the approach to reduce the symbols or signs of crime. "By adopting this approach, the police can focus on reducing disorder and chaos from the society because they are believed to be the main reason for the existence of crime. By reducing disorder and decay, the society can bring considerable reduction in the incidences of crime." (Bright, 24-63)

Finally, we have studied the effectiveness of this study in different societal settings and have analyzed the use of some other approaches to policing in situations where C.O.P does not seem to work effectively.

Thesis Statement

Community oriented policing has become the new model of policing replacing the traditional para-military style of policing that has been the foundation of policing for most of the 20th century. Departments nationwide have begun to change to C.O.P. In order to further community relationships, reduce citizen fear of crime, and to help the police better fight crime with the assistance of the community. Overwhelmingly it has been an effective strategy but it has its failings. C.O.P. is an effective policing strategy but does not work everywhere and other policing strategies are being implemented to replace where it does not.

For the purpose of reducing neighborhood crimes, creating a sense of security and reduce fear of crimes among the citizens and improving the quality of life in the community, the community policing strategy has been proved to be the most effective one. The accomplishment of all these objectives to develop a healthy and clean society can be done by combining the efforts of the police department, the members of the community and the local government. The concept of community policing is not very new however it has gained attention in last few years. It is an approach to make a collaborative effort between the police and the community in order to identify and solve the problems of crime, societal disorder and disturbances. It combines all the element of the community to find out the solutions to the social problems. Its foundations are laid on the basis of close and communally beneficial ties between the police and the members of the community. The strategy to adopt community policing will help in finding a way to reenergize the communities. It is apparent that a strongly built and self-sufficient community will be extremely helpful in creating an atmosphere in which serious crime will not flourish.

Part II:

Research Methodology:

The issue of community policing is not new to us. There has been considerable level of debate and arguments in its favor as well as against this approach. A number of studies have been conducted for the purpose of defining the true concept of community policing and to study the factors that have led to the success of community oriented policing. In our study, we have referred to a number of such studies, including the statistical data related to the issue and a number of literature resources such as books written on the subject and other scholarly journals. Our primary source of information is thus the secondary data i.e. The research works already conducted relating to this issue. We have studied the available literature related to the subject and have tried to come to a conclusion through them.

Jurisdiction:

Community policing has been successfully implemented in some of the localities of the United States. These states have worked closely with the community members in order to gain cooperation in resolving the issues of high crime rates and other security problems. For instance, in Michigan, the Community police officers noticed that the youth of the locality are usually found on streets and they usually end up having a trouble. To resolve this problem they opted to get the cooperation of the community members instead of using the traditional policing approaches. They urged the parents of these youth to work together to find a solution to the problem. With mutual agreement they decided to implement a curfew on the children, voluntarily by their parents, and the parents were then required to submit a report to the community police officer. The children who followed the curfew were granted prizes. In this way the police gave the parents enough liberty to make their decision with respect to their child's safety and thus a win-win approach was adopted which led to the success of the program. Similarly, in some parts of Arizona, a project is being initiated in which the police department personnel from various city departments visit the neighborhood and talk to the community members in order to determine the policing needs of the community and develop certain guidelines for fulfilling those needs. Moreover, in San Jose California, community members funded a crime watch office used for the purpose of watching the activities in the area. With the presence of this watch office, the neighbors are able to report any doubtful activity in the locality, to the volunteer staff of the office which in turn reports to the concerned police officer.

Part III

History of community policing:

The movement toward C.O.P. has gained momentum in recent years. As Police and community leaders have started searching for more effective ways to enhance the sense of public safety and the quality of life in their communities, they have started to focus on more community oriented approaches for policing. The approach of community-based policing has been accepted by several police departments one after another and the majority of the police officials now to agree that C.O.P. can provide basis for successful law enforcement in the future.

The roots of community-based policing can be dated back to the era of Sir Robert Peel, who adopted the system for the London Police department and who is considered to be the father of the modern Police system. According to him, the police should consider itself as a part of the general public and the public should also held itself accountable for certain police related activities. Though the concept of community policing was introduced in that time but it didn't succeeded because of a number of reasons. The primary reason for its failure at that time was that the police department itself lost sight of the principles defined by Sir Robert Peel i.e. defining the relationship of police with the public. "According to the studies, the government's initiative to bring reforms in the system of policing began in this era i.e. The years of the early 1900s. The motive was to combat corruption and to streamline the policing system. However, these efforts lead to further separation of the police force and the general public instead of bringing improvements in the image of the police and its duties." (Hickman, 64-89)

The actual reforms in the style of policing were being initiated in the decades of 50s and 60s when the government adopted the policy of assigning different shifts and frequent transfers of the police officers in order to prevent the system from corruption. It was being observed that the most harmful activity that was widening the gap between the police and the general public was the practice of random patrolling. During the early years, the police department started to implement a centralized control policy for the purpose of ensuring acquiescence with the already set standards and to create a sense of professionalism among the officers. With these policies in function and with use of technologically advanced equipments and techniques, the distance between the police and the general public increased more and more. With the increase in distance between police and public, the calls for an effective policing service increased because of the increase in awareness among the urban population. The result was that the police became totally reactive. As technology improved further and computers were being introduced in various departments including the police, the approach of the police became even more reactive and they started to rely on statistical studies to measure their success in policing instead of adopting the approach to analyze the policing needs of the community and to find out as what level those needs are being fulfilled.

In the decade of the 70's things started to change to a considerable level as the communities started to form on the basis of their national origins, their subcultures, norms, practices and attitudes. The same locality started to have more than one "groups" of people. "While addressing the policing needs of such a diverse pool of people, the police started to face problems and certain challenges arose which forced the police to bring new ideas and implement relevant changes in the social, political and economic structure. This resulted in the form of a new system of policing. With this change in the social and economic environment, most of the social institutions began to examine their structures and procedures and bring changes in it accordingly. However, the system of policing was overburdened and the procedures were too slow because of the red-tapes prevailing in the department." (Taylor, 54-78) The result was that the department started to lose grip from its structure. The top officials of the department started to realize that something must be done to resolve these problems and to redefine their relationship with the public and change the image of the police in their minds. A number of studies were conducted in order to find out the cause of the problem and to define the solutions for it. Studies reveled that the traditional practices of continuous patrolling and other highly reactive approaches to combat crime has no significant effect on the crime rate prevailing in the society.

These circumstances lead to the recognition on the part of the government that problems relating to crime fighting and the problems relating to the relationship between the police and the community are interrelated. In 1967, the President's commission on Law enforcement and administration of justice proposed that a new kind of police system should be introduced.

In the later years this proposal provided the ground for the establishment of a new model for policing. The philosophy being adopted to develop this model was focused on creating a law enforcement system which tries to bring the police and the general public in close relationships and provides the police department an opportunity to solve the community problems. "With the development of this new policing model, the community policing concept was introduced which was based on two core elements. One was partnership between communities and the police and the second was problem solving.

In the recent years certain developments have being made in this regards. In 1994, President Clinton promised to increase the workforce of the community police and to add around 10,000 new community police officers. Congress also fully supported the proposal and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was being passed by the House of the Representatives. Very recently, the debate for supporting the community policing programs gained support and the President awarded some additional funding for the programs." (Newman, 156)

The Broken Window Theory:

psychologist from Stanford, Philip Zimbardo, performed some experiments which formed the basis of the broken-window theory. He placed an automobile without license plates on a street. Soon the car was being attacked by thugs and within twenty four hours it lost everything of value within it. Later the car was totally deteriorated and almost every part of it was being destroyed. The majority of the people stealing from the car appeared to be well dressed and apparently educated people.

With the help of this theory, the psychologists and police officers came to the conclusion that if a window in a building is broken and is left out without being repaired, soon the rest of the windows will also be broken down. The same can be applied to the neighborhoods. In case of nice and clean neighborhoods, the practice of window breaking will not be much common. On the other hand, in case of unpleasant neighborhoods, such localities are usually populated by window-breakers who keep breaking windows for no reason at all. The presence of an ingle broken window, left without being repaired is a signal of the existence of window breakers and that there is no one to care thus encouraging window breaking.

Current Policy Issues:

Currently, the government is focusing on the establishment of a community oriented policing system. The system being established is on the reform model of modern policing. This approach stresses on the efficient and rapid response to the policing needs for successfully addressing serious crimes. In the beginning the logic of this program was not understandable for many people because according to them the simplest solution to the problem was identifying the criminal, arresting him or her and locking them up for legal proceedings. "With the introduction of modern policing techniques, police enjoyed several bureaucratic advantages such as upgrading of education and training system of the police department, increase in the salaries of police officers, and intertwining of political and personal corruption from the department. The experience of decades proved the point that the true solution to the problem of crime prevention can be sorted out by using an entirely different approach. Even though it is still necessary for the police to maintain the ability to rush to a crime in progress, several studies have shown that only a very few percent of the crimes are being reported to the police, hence reducing the importance of this function." (Wilson, 29-38)

However, in some cases the approach of community has not proved to be successful at all and they have adopted certain different techniques. For instance, the New York department of police has adopted a new system to which they call "CompStat." The unit of CompStat was being initiated in the department to help the officers in effectively fulfilling their duties by providing them a snapshot of the preliminary crime statistics. In this way they will be able to effectively develop a tactical plan and will make use of the best resources available for combating crime. This unit is responsible for providing important information to the top police officials including the Police Commissioner and Chief of the Department. The available data is being compiled and analyzed which constitutes of the information relating to preliminary crime, homicide statistics, and commanding officer profiles. Through this system, the department can create electronic pin maps of crime locations for all over the city. Moreover, it analyzes geographical locations of shootings, homicides, and other major crimes. Some other crime tracking and analyzing techniques being used through this model includes monitoring of crime patterns, development of certain crime tracking reports through an advanced computerized crime tracking methods and finally providing necessary information and support materials to the police officials.