Four Advantages of Community Policing

The idea of community policing is guided by a philosophy grounded in certain principles (Coquilhat, 2008). The principles are anchored on the thought that if there are positive changes now, communities will be guaranteed safety in the future. It is about cooperation and agreeing to work so that specific objectives that are commonly agreed on can be achieved. The concept of community policing is meant to move policing services closer to the people; with the people contributing towards the strategies employed in achieving the policing objectives. According to Palmitto, community policing is a game that the police should never afford to lose. He says that cooperation between the police and communities leads to more successful and reliable crime investigation techniques which lead to more accurate arrests and hence lower rates of crime. Such a scenario will help to improve the perception of police performance which will imply that they will be considered proactive and more effective in forestalling crime and maintaining peace. According to the analyst, if community policing does not produce the results expected, the then public will be at a crossroads because there is no way it can decide not to support police service. It is noted that the failures of preventing crime notwithstanding, the mere presence of the police is a reassuring scene. Community policing helps the political side of things by portraying the image that the police are caring (Palmitto, 2000). Some of the advantages of community policing include

1. To improve the community perception of the police and enhancing their relationship
Community policing helps to improve police relations with the people it looks after (Segrave and Ratcliffe, 2004). The participation aspect enhances accountability by the police (Palmiotto, 2000). Several community policing initiatives have proved to improve the perception of the police service (Skogan and Steiner, 2004).

2. Enhancing the capacity of the community to solve problems

3. If the capacity of the community is enhanced, it is possible to have community members identifying and responding to pertinent issues that concern them (Segrave and Ratcliffe, 2004). Empowerment of communities lead to strong communities which are more active (Mastrofski, 2006). Community policing allows the public to have a look at police activities in depth. It is the point where the police gain support from the grassroots (Palmiotto, 2000). Nevertheless, even if communities have capacities already, they will take part in community policing. They may not gain much from it though because they have are already pursuing measures to secure their communities (Coquilhat, 2008).

4. Changing the behavior and attitudes of the police
There is some evidence that shows that community policing increases job satisfaction of the police officers because of the better interaction and cooperation with the communities (Coquilhat, 2008). Coquilhat (2008).According to Coquilhat, community policing helps the police to become embedded in the communities that they work. The scenario enables the police to understand the concerns of the community and hence represent the police better. The final effect is that the morale of the police will be boosted since they feel invited to work within the communities (Palmitto, 2000).

Preventing Disorder, Crime and Other Antisocial Tendencies

Community policing has been recommended especially for dealing with certain types of events that need police intervention within the communities. One such scenario is the case of dealing with the problem of graffiti and gang violence. It is also effective in handling organized crime. In recent times, community policing has been found to be effective in tackling terrorism. According to Coquihat(2008), there is a need to provide objectives that are clear in fighting crime and the risk factors involved. According to Coquihat, community policing has succeeded in dealing with antisocial behavior but its effectiveness in dealing with crime is still unclear. It fundamental principle that drives community policing is to reduce the chances of victimizing suspects; even though it has delivered in controlling antisocial behavior and also deals with crime. It is not possible to link decreases in crime rates to the increases in police numbers (Coquilhat, 2008). Changes in antisocial behavior and disorder reported by the victims are used to measure the rate of crime. Generally, community policing is viewed as a positive program that helps to deal with antisocial behavior and disorder (Coquilhat, 2008).

References

Coquilhat, J. (2008). Community policing: An international literature review. New Zealand Police.

Mastrofski, S., (2006) ‘Critic - Community Policing: A Sceptical View’ in Police Innovation: Contemporary Perspectives, ed. D. Weisburd and A. Braga, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp 44-73

Segrave, M., and Ratcliffe, J. (2004). Community Policing: A descriptive overview, Australian Institute of Criminology

Skogan, W. G. and Steiner, L. (2004). Community policing in Chicago, Year ten. Chicago: llinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.

Palmiotto, M. (2000) Community Policing: A Policing Strategy for the 21st Century, Jones and Bartlett Publishers: Boston