Transcript AJ 58- Community and Human Relations

AJ 58- Community and
Human Relations
Chapter 1 –
The Idea of
Community Policing
The Idea of Community Policing
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Traditional “Professional” Model of policing
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Police aloof and detached from citizenry
Avoid political corruption and intervention
Modern Community Policing Model
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Broadens police mission to address community concerns
Empowers community to have a voice
Demands cooperation
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Law Enforcement is part of, not separate from, Community
Community Policing Officer (CPO)
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Must work closely with people and specific
community problems
Consistently work within a specific
geographical beat
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Advantages?
Consider arrest as merely one of many
options to solve problems
Violent Crime Control
and Law Enforcement Act (1994)
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Provided guidelines and funding for more
than 100,000 CPO’s nationwide
Over 80% of Law Enforcement agencies now
subscribe to philosophy of Community
Policing
Becoming more institutionalized and publicly
understood
Sources of Confusion
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Long, complicated
process
Cover for aggressive
tactics
False claims of
implementation
Adopted language, not
put into practice
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Threatens traditional LE
status quo
Unfulfilled public
expectations
Confusion with
Problem-Oriented
Policing
Philosophical Facet
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LE success
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Traditionally based on quantitative output
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Citations, arrests, recovered property, response
time, etc.
Community Policing calls for philosophical
change towards community-based elements
Broad Police Function
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LE and citizens must work together to identify
and solve community problems
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Allow citizens to help set priorities
New focus on proactive vs. reactive response
to problems
Focus on reducing fear and maintaining
order in a healthy community
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Fear of crime can be worse than crime itself
Get citizens actively involved
Effects of Arrest on Crime
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What causes crime?
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Socio-economic conditions and public policy
Arrests alone do not stop crime!
Crime affected through control of social
conditions and public policy
Most LE calls for service are not crime-related!
Citizen Input
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How?
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Surveys
Town/neighborhood meetings
Minority/business group meetings
Why?
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Evaluate effectiveness of LE programs
Gauge citizen behavior, expectations
Establish goals and priorities
Concern for Citizens
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“Professional” Model of LE
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Aloof and disinterested
Dragnet syndrome- “Just the facts, Ma’am”
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Command respect & demand answers!
Community Policing Model
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Concern for community problems
Concern for citizens’ physical and emotional
needs
Developing Trust
Information is the lifeblood of policing!
 Must have cooperation to get
information
 Must have trust to get cooperation
 Communication builds trust, therefore…
 Good communication with community
leads to successful policing!
Sharing Power
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Focus on Community’s needs and desires as
priority for Law Enforcement
Citizens help identify/solve community
problems
May have to deal with “petty” concerns
Encourage citizens to volunteer to help in
community
Creativity
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Diverse community members may offer
innovative approaches/solutions
Citizens become assessors of quality of
police services
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Not just based on quantitative statistics
Neighborhood Variation
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Traditional perception/expectation of “fair and equal
enforcement”
Reality?
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Always some variation across communities and
neighborhoods
Community Policing recognizes the will of the
community, not just LE agenda
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Allows for varying neighborhood standards
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Example: working on car in street
Organizational and
Personnel Facet
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Community Policing requires…
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Philosophical shift in traditional thinking
Commitment to structural change
Decentralize organization to increase
response to Community
Not just a single tactic to address one
specific community problem
Roles of the CPO
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Innovator
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Link
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Getting citizens involved
Mini-Chief
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Policing with a human touch
Catalyst
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Creating new ways to solve old problems
Having autonomy to solve local problems
Referral Specialist
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Referring people to available community services
Geographic Focus and Ownership
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Police activities traditionally focused on…
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Time (shifts)
Tasks (assignments)
Success of Community Policing relies on
geographical permanence
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Officer becomes familiar with people, activities,
problems, needs
Area should be small enough for daily contact
Direct, Daily Face-to-Face Contact
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Why?
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Officers take responsibility (ownership) for what
occurs in their beats
People learn to trust and cooperate with familiar
officers
Accountability for successes and failures
How?
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Various modes of transportation
Patrol car can be barrier to communication
Prevention Focus
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Proactive vs. Reactive response
Reduce victimization
Identify problems, create solutions
Attack problems likely to result in crime
Referrals to welfare agencies
Educational/Recreational programs
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Life-skills programs, PAL’s
Reorienting Police Operations
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Traditional approach
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Random, routine patrols
Does not necessarily deter crime
Community Policing approach
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Identify problems/implement solutions
Tailor police services to community needs
Increase positive citizen contacts
Problem-Solving
Requires innovative thinking!!!
1. Identify the specific problem
2. Analyze the problem and its attributes
3. Identify possible solutions
4. Implement best solution and evaluate its
effectiveness
Situational Crime Prevention
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Directed at specific problem/situation
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Long-term management/manipulation of
immediate environment
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Increase efforts/risks of criminal
Community Engagement
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Community must take active role in self-protection!
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Neighborhood Watch, Citizen Patrols, active reporting of
criminal/suspicious behavior, sports/educational activities,
etc.
Police responsibility
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Encourage/motivate community involvement
Identify citizen leaders
Partnerships with other government agencies
Departmental link to community, not just CPO’s
Criticisms of Community Policing
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Can LE truly change its value systems and
cultural norms?
Some aggressive tactics disguised as CP
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Taking back the streets
“Broken Windows”, “Weed and Seed”
Zero-Tolerance enforcement
Does aggressive enforcement reduce crime?
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Mixed statistical results
May lead to alienation of community and distrust
of police