Problem-oriented policing: approaches and implementation

Criminal Justice

Problem Oriented Policing

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze the topic of problem oriented policing. Specifically it will discuss two articles from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Web site and describe the approaches these articles use to address crime problems. There are many different problems facing communities today that lend themselves to the problem oriented policing (POP) approach. From Identity Theft to Stalking, there are many ways to approach these problems, but problem oriented policing targets the specific problems, researches them, and offers solutions that are geared specifically to those problems to help eliminate them in a community.

The first guide chosen discusses Gangs in America today. Experts estimate there are over 30,000 gangs in America with over 800,000 members, so it is easy to see why this is a pervasive problem facing most communities ("Gangs"). Most gang activities are rooted in illegal activities, such as drugs and prostitution, and gang violence is a huge problem in most communities where gang activity is present. It is also difficult for law enforcement to track gangs because they have become very techno savvy and use a variety of technologies to track police activities, from the Internet to cell phones. This makes it more difficult for law enforcement to crack down on gangs and monitor their activities.

Gangs are also moving from some of America's biggest cities to smaller cities and even rural areas, where they are less likely to be discovered. As they spread, they are reaching out to more minorities and immigrants, who often see gangs as a means of support and protection in a new community. Gangs are also branching out, and because of this, they are harder to monitor and understand. They are becoming "hybrids," which makes it more difficult for police to identify them and understand how to combat them.

Problem oriented policing is a necessity in solving the gang problem, because the problem is so difficult, one specific method of control simply will not work. As the guide notes, control depends on several things, including, "interdependent prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies, selected by a community to target its emerging or chronic gang problems, which have been identified by a comprehensive, systematic assessment" ("Gangs"). Thus, the problem is different in each community (and often between each gang), and problem oriented policing is the approach that can identify the strategies and interventions that will work in each situation.

Involving parents and the community is another solution, because they are often the first ones to identify gang activity, either in their own homes or on the streets where they live. They are often more familiar with the members of the gangs, as well as where they operate and what they are looking for, in terms of illegal activities. Involving the community and local schools and educators as well is another way to combat this crisis and aid police in identifying hot spots of gang activity, where they should concentrate their efforts to eliminate the problem. Police need to understand local gang symbols, where the gangs operate, how they operate, and involve the church, parents, and local community leaders to help solve the problems of gangs in a community. Community education is another key to control, and knowing the police are on top of the situation helps the community feel more empowered and more apt to seek helps from law enforcement if they have confronted gang activity.

Solving gang activity in a community is a team effort, but the police have to lead the way and develop gang teams, gang education, and tough stances on gang activity. They have to send a message to gangs that they will not tolerate this activity, as well as attempt to ultimately control and eradicate it.

School safety is another one of those critical issues facing Americans today, because it seems that more and more schools are facing violence from inside and outside forces. In addition, gang activity and association is a big problem in many schools today, and many school systems are turning to local law enforcement agencies to help them combat school violence on a number of levels.

One of the activities that is being utilized across the country is the COPS is Schools (CIS) program, which helps local agencies hire school resource officers (SROs) to work inside the schools and develop community oriented programs that reach out to students, educators, and parents to identify and address violence issues in their particular schools. This can help the law enforcement agencies to identify the biggest problem schools in their area and address these schools with distinct problem oriented policing techniques geared to control the specific issues at a specific school, whether it is gang activity, truancy, or vandalism.

These SROs can also develop student programs that help students understand how they can help control violence in their schools, giving them the tools to assess the dangers around them, and conflict resolution skills to help them in situations that could turn violent. Engaging the students helps empower them and make them feel more in charge of their own fate and the fate of those around them.

Another method of control that helps develop a problem oriented approach is to analyze data that might not seem to contribute to violence in the schools, but may have an affect on it, such as attendance, parental and counselor, GPA, dropout rates, test scores, suspensions, truancy, calls for help to that school, and other non-traditional data that could show trends or indicators that certain schools may pose more problems than others. This data may not be traditionally utilized, but if analyzed effectively, it could lead to a greater understanding of what elements of the school experience can help lead to violence in that particular school. For example, if the school's population is predominately minority or immigrant, the school may have a variety of indicators that point to gang related activity, from the percentage of minority population to testing scores, drop-out rates, teenage pregnancies, and many others that might not always be looked at and evaluated.