Building Police-Community Relations: Trust and Outreach
This paper examines strategies for building rapport between police departments and the communities they serve. Drawing on the U.S. Department of Justice's assessment of the St. Louis County Police Department following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the paper identifies two primary recommendations: increasing racial and ethnic diversity within police ranks to better reflect community demographics, and leveraging social media to disseminate accurate information and counter misinformation during periods of unrest. The paper argues that community trust is the cornerstone of effective policing, and that when trust is absent, cooperation diminishes and public safety suffers. Both internal reform and active community engagement are presented as essential components of lasting police-community relations.
- Introduction: Police Accountability and Community Tensions: Police accountability, public scrutiny, and rising community tensions
- The Ferguson Case and the DOJ Assessment: DOJ review of St. Louis County after Ferguson shooting
- Racial Diversity in Police Departments: Underrepresentation of minorities in police ranks
- Social Media and Community Outreach: Using social media to counter misinformation and engage residents
- Building and Sustaining Community Trust: Trust as the foundation of effective policing
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its argument in a concrete, high-profile case study — the Ferguson DOJ assessment — giving abstract recommendations immediate real-world credibility.
- It connects individual policy recommendations (diversity hiring, social media use) to a broader, clearly stated thesis: that community trust is the foundation of effective policing.
- The paper uses a mix of government reports and peer-reviewed research to support its claims, demonstrating awareness of multiple levels of evidence.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the use of a case study as an evidential anchor. Rather than arguing abstractly about police-community relations, the author uses the Ferguson investigation as a concrete lens through which to examine systemic issues, then generalizes outward to broader policy implications. This technique — moving from specific to general — strengthens persuasive writing by showing the reader that the problem is real and documented before offering solutions.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad framing of police accountability and the rise of public scrutiny fueled by smartphones and social media. It then narrows to the Ferguson case and the DOJ's findings as a case study. Two specific DOJ recommendations are analyzed in turn — diversity in police ranks and social media outreach — before a concluding section synthesizes these ideas under the umbrella of trust-building as a long-term policing strategy.
Introduction: Police Accountability and Community Tensions
The police force is ultimately accountable to the public in one manner or another. Not only must the police justify their policies and actions relative to public service, but the community will also serve as their most important critic. Various policing organizations have come under intense scrutiny and have received a great deal of negative publicity through mainstream and social media channels. The relationship between a police force and the community it serves is often tense, but with the widespread adoption of smartphones and portable cameras, animosities have reached new heights in some jurisdictions due to improper use of force.
The friction between public servants and the communities they serve has been amplified by such incidents and the publicity they have generated, whether deserved or not. Whatever the circumstances, it is absolutely necessary for police departments in all areas to work to bridge whatever divides exist in the perceptions of the larger community. These tensions not only make policing more difficult, but they can also lead to further escalations of violence on both sides. When the police are not trusted by the community, cooperation decreases at best, and at worst the result can be increases in criminal activity throughout the community.
Works Cited
Gest, T. (2015, October 2). DOJ slams St. Louis County cops on community relations. Retrieved from The Crime Report: http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2015-10-cops-on-st-louis-county
U.S. Department of Justice. (2007, November). Building trust between the police and the citizens they serve. Retrieved from COPS:
Weitzer, R., Tuch, S., & Skogan, W. (2008). Police–community relations in a majority-Black city. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency.
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