Community policing philosophy, origins, and shared responsibility in America

Community Policing

The History and Concept of Community Policing in the U.S.

Community Policing Origins

Community Policing Philosophy

Community Projects

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Community policing is as much a philosophy as it is a practice. At the heart of the concept lies a deep level of collaboration between the community and the police. However, to form such a relationship many intermediary goals must first be achieved. Most likely, one of the primary values that must be established is a sense of trust between both the community and the police force. If the community perceives the police force as corrupt or ineffective then will generally remain apathetic to the goals of community policing. At the same time, if the police force is not fully engaged with the public then are not likely to benefit from the communities assistance. Therefore, to establish effective community policing efforts a balance between the community and the police force must be established and maintained.

Community Policing Origins

Community Policing originated from a situation in which the public demanded that enforcement become more actively engaged in high crime areas in the 1980's. While jurisdictions focused on traditional motorized patrol, consistent with Regan's Reform Era practices, in other locations some officers were instructed to participate in proactive problem solving and begin developing stronger community relations. The differences between this approach and the more traditional police roles is that level of engagement with the community far exceeds that of traditional policing styles (COPS, 2011). In this approach the public is encouraged to participate and share responsibility with the police force in order to ensure safe communities and discourage crime, social disorder, and the fear of crime.

Community Projects

Community projects are often aimed at the root causes of social unrest that can contribute to sources of various types of crimes. An example of such a project could be the demolition of an abandoned building that is frequently used for drug activities thus causing the drug using population to disperse. Another example is the cleanup or creation of a local park or the development of recreational programs for local youth. These types of effects provide constructive opportunities for the local youth and can be very effective in preventing juvenile crimes indirectly. For example, if a child or adolescent is actively engaged in a constructive activity, such as a basketball or baseball league, then they have less free time in which to pursue more devious activities.

Police personnel must possess a different set of skills geared to the holistic approach as well as have the time to work on these projects. In some cases, officers who serve in such roles within the communities are often trying to juggle multiple collaborative components. This can be an overwhelming obligation that can also lead to officer burnout since it requires more dedication and creativity than traditional roles. Officers are more likely to "take their work home" with them at the end of the day and also suffer personally if events manifest in which the community suffers. At the heart of the matter, it requires a more personal approach than a typical job which can make it more difficult for a work-life balance to be established.

The community policing philosophy also stresses increased officer discretion over how they conduct their jobs so they can be receptive to community alarms and build community confidence. Within reasonable limitations, they must be given the opportunity to address issues in a way they perceive will be the most effective based on judgments, rather than by an inflexible set of rules and procedures. Officers are asked to be creative in finding ways to address community problems without automatically simply placing an offender under arrest as the default action (AA County Police, 2007). However, many members of the community also have reservations to the appropriateness of police discretions for arrests in community policing. In some cases it could potentially lead to racial profiling, police corruption, and abuses of power if not appropriately managed.

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Another effort to help establish effective community policing initiatives in the U.S. has been provided by the federal government which created the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) (COPS, 2011). COPS promote community policing through a variety of initiatives, including its Regional Community Policing Institute program (RCPI). With Community Policing programs benefits for example include such items as Community Officers identifying more illicit activities than even some undercover officers, but their sustained presence also allows them to take less threatening offenses seriously, addressing problems before they escalate to greater severities (Sherman, 1990).

Conclusion

Community policing focuses primarily on the sharing of responsibility of crime prevention in our communities. Unlike previous policing models, community policing takes a more holistic approach that has been shown to be more effective than traditional police roles. Community residents and social services are encouraged to become more involved and have had more successful integrations with various types of community projects. Furthermore, some police personnel are finding greater fulfillment in this type of police work although some others find the personal demands to be overwhelming since it requires greater levels of dedication. Yet, community policing officers' skill sets are not drastically different from traditional patrol officers. Community policing officers have simply augmented traditional skill sets to look deeper into the root causes of social unrest and try to identify possible opportunities for creative solutions to community problems.