History of community policing 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 Policing Philosophy

The development of a community policing philosophy was dependent on the community residents' acceptance the shared responsibility they would undertake along with police personnel (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1994). The community policing philosophy strains that the responsibility for the conservation of order in a community must be mutual by both the police and members of that community. Shared responsibility requires regular and continued communication, which is vital in constructing mutual trust and cooperation between community citizens and police personnel. In addition, shared responsibility necessitates that community residents become more aggressively involved in crime prevention through actions such as reporting crime and establishing community watch or patrol groups.

Shared responsibility also requires police to respond to the crime-related difficulties that community residents have recognized as significant and police must demonstrate respect for all community residents during the process. Shared responsibility naturally transforms into officers being specified time and encouraged to attend community meetings, conduct foot patrols, and informally network with community residents. Additionally, some circumstances also require that officers are assigned enduring roles as liaisons so that they can be more familiar with the community as well as the community establishing relationships with the officers as well.

Another aspect to community policing is that it also stresses crime prevention. Where traditional policing essentially involves answering calls for service once a crime has already been committed, community policing goes beyond this position by proactively identifying the hidden conditions that lead to crime; then organizing efforts to alter those conditions. In this sense, community policing has more of a holistic approach to problem-solving. This generally typically requires a great deal of collaboration between police personnel, community populations, other public officials, as well as nonprofit organizations in the development and ongoing participation in community improvement tasks.

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.