New Directions for Police Psychology

New Directions for Police Psychology

Community policing entails a value system that permeates the police department where the primary goal is working with individual citizens, citizen groups as well as public and private organizations in a cooperative way in order to identify and resolve problems which affect lives in specific neighborhoods, or the entire city. This discourse will look at two articles; one that highlights a successful collaboration between the police and the community they serve whereby community oriented policing and principles are well exemplified while the other will highlight how the police procedures, policy or decisions of individual officers work against the community policing models.

The first article by U.S. Department of Justice (2011) is an example of a success story of community policing. The Macon, Georgia police department has increased its community policing efforts so as to ensure that there is public safety within the down town area of the city since it is a high pedestrian and high traffic area. They decided to relocate the bike control office to the heart of the downtown as opposed to increase the police force which is often misunderstood and abused frequently by police management. Police agencies have initiated community policing. The bike patrol office has been adorned by a lot of local electric art tat has been donated by the Macon Arts Alliance which is a community-based organization. The generosity and friendship which have been extended the people who are at the helm of organizations that are partnering with the police department have made it possible for he Macon police Department to carry out law enforcement at a more advanced level through the creation of an inviting and community friendly place where it is possible for the community members and visitors to interact with law enforcers in a more traditional manner. The patrol office has local ambassadors that are trained in such a way that they are able to provide locals and visitors with timely information regarding where they can shop, eat and stay as well as what to do. They are also mandated to field the concerns that are raise by the public. This clearly shows collaboration between the police and the local community hence successful community policing.

The second article by Kolodziej, M., (2013) highlights how some policies and procedures by the police can affect the success of community policing. The article shows how local immigration enforcement harms community policing hence threatening the safety of the public, an example of such programs is the 287(g) program that deputizes local police so that they can perform the duties of federal immigration agents which leads to the destruction of the relationship between the police and the local immigrant communities who the police normally rely on information of crime as well as general cooperation. This program created has led to the creation of an ethnic gap when it comes to perception of the police, how the county is rated as a place to live and the trust people have on the local government. There are concerns that the likelihood of crimes against illegal immigrant being reported is very low. These local immigration enforcement programs often lead to fear and distrust created between the local police and the immigrant communities. This has led to local law enforcement authorities like New York, New Orleans and Chicago to decline taking part in aspects of immigration enforcement so that they can be bale to strengthen the relationships with immigrant populations and hence lead to the creation of a safer community. They have come to the conclusion that local immigration enforcement programs encourage racial profiling, undermine the safety of the community and contribute to little or no apprehension of violent criminals (Kolodziej, 201). This article clearly shows how some policies and programs by the police can undermine community policing