To What Extent have Procedures and Practices for Public Safety in Newark Reduced Crime - Research Paper Example

To What Extent have Procedures and Practices for Public Safety in Newark Reduced Crime? . In general, police are a group of public servants which aims to reduce the incidence of criminal activities within the society by detecting and preventing crimes from happening (Newburn 2003, p. 15). In line with this, the common purpose of creating the professional police is to protect the general public from any forms of misconduct and violence that could impose threats over the lives of the innocent people. With regards to the overall public performance coming from the police force in Newark, several research survey result show that the creation of professional police was not really intended for the society as a whole but for the pure benefit of those individuals who are belongs to the middle class society (Dunham and Alpert 1998; Sampson and Jeglum-Bartush 1998; Kusow, Wilson and Martin 1997; Cao, Frank and Cullen 1996). Having a total population of 278,154 as of 2009, Newark is the biggest city in New Jersey (US Census Bureau 2010). Even though police forces in Newark aimed at producing policies that can promote a safe environment for the local citizens (Newburn 2003, p. 3), the city has been considered as the top 23 city with high number of serious crimes as compared to more than 400 other cities in the United States (CQ Press 2010). Determining the public’s satisfaction with regards to the ability of the police to minimize crime rates within the society is considered a crucial component of evaluating the overall performance of the police (Brown and Benedict 2002). In relation to the crime rate in Newark, this report will discuss the significance of crime mapping, the use of global positioning system (GPS) technology in solving crime, the importance of educating the public on how to protect themselves from becoming an easy victim of a crime, the importance of implementing a situational crime prevention strategies, and improvements in DNA forensics or DNA fingerprints in terms of promoting public safety in Newark. Eventually, this report will focus on examining the extent in which these procedures and practices are effective in terms of protecting the public safety and reducing crime. Newark’s Procedures and Policies Used in Promoting Public Safety As explained by Hagy and Peed (2008), ‘practices’ includes the act of examining the practices of police officers when it comes to mapping crimes and analyzing problems whereas ‘policies’ are referring to policy that is connected with the use of crime mapping to enable police offices and policy makers have a better understanding about the crime that is taking place in Newark. In line with this, the members of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) are working together with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in order to discuss publicly the issues related to public safety (Wilson and Smith 2008). Significance of Crime Mapping The geographical information system (GIS) software which is commonly used in mapping crimes is a software that enable the researchers have a better visualization and assessment regarding the human behavior within a geographic area and spatial patterns, examine the impact of geographic area on crime and public safety, and validate the accuracy of theories used in the study of crime (Filbert 2008, p. 4; Wilson and Smith 2008, p. 2). Since the public introduction of GIS data collection method for the study of criminology back in mid-1990s, crime mapping has always been one of the policies and procedures used by law enforcers in Newark to promote public safety (Paynich and Hill 2010, p. 5; Wilson and Smith 2008). As explained by Paynich and Hill (2010, p. 4), crime mapping is a complex study that analyzes criminal activities from different dimensions including the reasons why offenders are motivated to commit a crime without bothering its impact on the victim’s lives or the environment, the victims’ point-of-views concerning the on-going crime in the city, and the characteristics of the environment where most of the crime are taking place. According to Felson and Clarke (1998, p. 5), “crime opportunity are concentrated in time and space and are heavily dependent on every day movement of activities”. Aiming to stop criminal activities like theft and robbery, the use of crime mapping enabled police officers to effectively analyze the crime patterns that are present within New Jersey. Through the use of computerized crime mapping software which maps the recorded crime incidents, Wilson and Smith (2008, p. 12) revealed that the four major areas in New Jersey that has the most crime rates includes the Newark Avenue strip, the Montgomery Gardens, public housing complex, the Martin Luther King Drive corridor, and the Central Avenue corridor in the Heights. The crime mapping results revealed that the downtown Newark Avenue area has the most crime problem related to car break-in whereas the Newport Centre Mall is facing crime problem related to theft and shoplifting (Wilson and Smith 2008, p. 12). In most cases, criminals would attack their victim each time there is a good opportunity for them to attack (Felson and Clarke 1998, p. 5). In other words, one of the best practices and procedures that will enable Newark’s police officers and law enforcers to improve the public safety is by making the public environment less conducive to crime. With this in mind, police officers in Newark carefully studied the environmental factors and behavior that triggered most of the offendors to break-in other people’s car. The study of environmental criminology normally focuses on analyzing the main characteristics of the land including the entry and exit points, and visibility which can make a specific area conducive to crime. When they found out that the downtown Newark Avenue where most of the car break-in takes place is caused by absence of lighting and open access to the parking lot, the law enforcement authorities decided to take extra effort to improve the area’s lighting in parking space and walkways, install emergency phones in the area, and limit the public’s access to the parking lot (Paynich and Hill 2010, p. 6; Masterson, Bieter and Sander 2007). Since “crime opportunity are concentrated in time and space” (Felson and Clarke 1998, p. 5), police officers in Newark were encouraged to drive around the areas where most of the crime takes place more often. The term “hot spots” is referring to public areas in Newark that are often left unguarded by police officers. Among the two types of free software that can be used in identifying “hot spots” in a given geographic area includes: CrimeStat and GeoDa (GeoDa Center 2010; Levine and Associates 2010; Wilson and Smith 2008, p. 7). According to Filbert (2008, p. 4), the strategy of requiring more police officers to drive around the “hot spot” areas during wee hours (3:00am – 7:00 am) is effective in terms of reducing crime. Back in 1991, the Supreme Court extended the rights of police officers to search vehicles provided that the vehicle of the suspect is readily mobile (Dempsey and Forst 2010, p. 434). In case the suspect of a crime such as the illegal possession of drugs, police officers have the authority to search for the vehicle of the suspect during the time when suspect’s car is already mobile. This is possible even if the police officer does not have any search warrant to check the suspect’s vehicle (ibid)1. The Use of Global Positional System (GPS) Technology in Solving Crime Global Positional System (GPS) Technology is “a satellite-based navigation system that was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) beck in early 1970s” (El-Rabbany 2002, p. 1). In line with this, the main purpose of developing this type of technology was to support the military system in terms of creating a continuous world-wide coverage regarding the location of the GPS users each time there is a strong need to conduct surveillance (Dempsey and Forst 2010, p. 480). Police officers and the public law enforcers can make use of the GPS technology whenever there is a need for them to analyze and evaluate the exact place where the offenders live and where these people are spending most of the time (Wilson and Smith 2008, p. 3). In most cases, police investigators and the public law enforcers can place the GPS devices on the vehicles of a suspect so that they can efficienctly and accurately track down the movement of the suspect’s vehicles (Siegel 2010, p. 327). Basically, the use of this type of tracking devices enables the police officers and law enforcers to accurately record the location of the suspect’s vehicle including the time the vehicle was present in a specific area (Dempsey and Forst 2010, p. 479). This strategy enables the police officers to easily arrest the suspect without the need to endanger the lives of the by-standers who are innocent of the crime. One of the best strategies that can promote public safety is to increase the number of police officers who will be patrolling the different areas of Newark especially between 12am – 5am when most of the crime is being committed. To ensure that each of the patrol officers are performing their obligations to make rounds in the community area, the GPS technology device is placed on the mobile patrollers or police vehicles to enable the police headquarters effectively monitor the whereabouts of each mobile patrollers (Dempsey and Forst 2010, p. 481). Educating the Public on How to Protect Themselves from Becoming a Victim of a Crime and Implementation of Situational Crime Prevention Strategies The implementation of situational crime prevention strategies is one of the significant factors that enabled the police officers in Neward effectively control the crime management and promote the importance of public safety. After learning that most of the crime takes place in certain spots in Newark that are conducive to crime, police officers and the law enforcers works together in terms of remodifying these public places by building fences on vacant lots and changing all bad lightings to good sources of light (Filbert 2008, p. 4). As part of 2002 Crime Prevention Program, the community members of Newark including the youth, the residents, local schools and universities, business groups, non-profit organizations, and the criminal justice system were encouraged to work together in terms of preventing crime from happenning (US Department of Justice, 2002). As part of the crime prevention program, educating the public on how they can possibly protect themselves from becoming a victim of a crime is another strategy that is widely being practiced in Newark. Over the past few years, police officers are actively working together with other significant groups in the society including the local universities when it comes to educating the people concerning the importance of public safety (Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey 2010; University of Delaware 2010). For people who are no long connected with the local universities, the Newark Police Department is offering some kind of collaborative community partnership with the senior and non-senior citizens and business police academies as a way of strengthening the relationship between the people living in Newark and the police officers (Newark Police Department 2010). The main reason behind the need to encourage more people to actively and voluntarily watch the safety of each individual within the neighborhood is to promote a safer environment for all people. By eliminating fear of crime within the city, people in Newark can actively participate in the economic development of the city without having the need to experience too much anxiety concerning their own safety. As part of the public service being provided by the University of Delaware, University of Delaware Police Department was given the authority to provide safe and secure environment within the university campus aside from their role on educating the public about topics related to sexual assault, the abuse and consequences of using illegal drugs, crime prevention strategies, and personal and traffic safety rules (University of Delaware 2010). Since the University of Delaware Police Department strongly encourages the local citizens to have the courage and initiative to report either a crime or suspicious activity (University of Delaware 2010), potential offenders within the campus area would often think twice before they perform a crime. In most cases, knowing that there are many people around them who are guarding for public safety decreases the opportunity for a crime to be committed. Similar to the University of Delaware’s effort to promote public safety, Rutgers also implement some safety guidelines and policies that will provide the students, faculty members and staff a safe environment to stay. Aside from encouraging the students to report any forms of suspicious activities within the campus, the Administration and Public Safety (APS) department of Rutgers is directly responsible in managing crimes and safety concerns of the students and faculty members (Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey 2010). For example: Students in University of Delaware can call (302) 831-2222 for a free walking escort service during late-night hours (University of Delaware 2010 b). In the case of Rutgers’ students and faculty members, these people can call (973) 353-5581 for escort service (Rutgers-Newark Department of Public Safety 2010). Basically, this particular safety program works well in terms of protecting the students’ welfare from becoming a victim of possible crime. Rutgers also encourage the students to report suspicious activities to Newark Campus hotline (973) 353-5111 or 5111 using the campus phone (Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey 2010). In general, developing and implementing effective situational crime prevention strategies is effective in making people aware of their personal safety within and outside the university campuses. Once a potential offender is aware that his prospective victim is aware of his own safety by not encouraging perpetrators to attack, there is a lesser chance that the crime will be committed. Aside from teaching the students to be aware of safety in their environment, students were strictly adviced not to walk alone late at night aside from keeping the doors of their room or vehicle locked all the times to avoid encouraging trespassers to enter the private territory of the students (Rutgers-Newark Department of Public Safety 2010; University of Delaware 2010). Likewise, victims of sexual assualt, harrassment, or any forms of crime are highly encouraged to report or notify the university police to protect them and give justice to their misfortune (Rutgers-Newark Department of Public Safety 2010). The same public safety procedures and techniques are being applied in the case of other community members in Newark. Improvements in DNA Forensics or DNA Fingerprints Given that DNA structure of each person varies from one another (Fischer and Jones 2001, p. 2), DNA match can be used as a concrete evidence in the process of identifying potential suspect(s) in a crime scene. In the absence of a witness who could positively identify the criminal, the use of DNA forensic identification enables the police officers the opportuntity to avoid false accusations when trying to identify potential suspect. Improvements in the study and technology used in DNA forensic science or DNA fingerprints is a signficant part of improving the public safety of the people Newark. By strengthening the use of DNA technology, police officers and law enforcers are able to accurately determine suspects behind a crime scene. This will enable the youth and other criminals be more aware of the consequences of their own actions before they decide to commit a crime. For example: Police officers found traces of blood in the crime scene. After conducting a series of laboratory test to identify the blood type samples, police officers found out that the identified victim’s blood type is ‘AB’ but blood type ‘ABO’ was also found in the crime scene. For this reason, police officers can assume that the suspect’s blood type is ‘O’ given that there is only one perpetrator and one victim in a crime scene (ORNL 2010; Fischer and Jones 2001, p. 40). This strategy narrows down the elimination of potential suspect. Given that the police officers found traces of foot prints in the crime scene and identified the shoe marks as Nike Air Jordan size 9, police officers can accumulate these evidences when searching for the best match (ibid). Discussion It is a very good idea on the part of the US government to exert an effort in promoting the importance of TRIAD which includes the unity between the local police officers, law enforcement group, and the local citizens of Newark in terms of preventing criminal victimization (US Department of Justice 2002). In relation to the importance of strengthening the relationship between Newark Police Department and the local citizens, Newark Police Department is providing better public service by implementing the following crime prevention programs: Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch, Clergy Alliance Program, National Night Out, the “Too Good for Drugs” curriculum, Law Enforcement Explorers Program, and Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) which are readily available at http://www.newarkpd.org/community.htm (Newark Police Department 2010). It is a very good idea on the part of Newark police department to encourage more people to give volunteer services as their extracurricular activity as on-the-job traiing under the supervision of Newark Police Department (Newark Police Department 2010 b). By encouraging more youth to be trained under Newark Police Department, highly competitive individuals will be able to have the opportunity to join Newark Police Department as a police officer provided that the trainee is able to comply all the requirements needed to apply for such profession. As a result of many years of professional experiences in managing and preventing crime, police officers in Newark has been successful in terms of the reducing crime base on the available procedures and practices used in the public safety in Newark. This can be traced with the past and present crime statistics report that has taken place in Newark. Based on the total violent crimes and total non-violent crimes that were reported by Newark Police Department between 2000 to 2010, the statistic trend of both violent and non-violent crimes has been constantly decreasing over the years. In line with this, improvements in statistic crime rate only show that the policing procedures and practices used in Newark is effective in terms of reducing the incidence of crime. (See Appendix I – Total Violent Crimes and Non-Violent Crimes Reported by Newark Police Department on page 16) Conclusion and Recommendations Based on the historical trend of crime statistics as presented by the Newark Police Department, the current practices and procedures used by Newark’s police officers has been effective in terms of increasing the public awareness on safety issues and reducing crime rate. By removing the opportunities for the offenders to attack a potential victim, Newark’s police officers were successful in terms of reducing the incidence of reported crimes in the city. It is a common knowledge that people with criminal intentions would attack whenever they get the chance to victimize another person. Since Felson and Clarke (1998, p. 6) explained that there is a strong possibility for a crime to produce a new opportunity for other offendors, police officers, law enforcers, and policy makers in Newark should continuously develop new and strategic ways on how they can effectively improve the reduction of opportunities for crime. In most cases, the influence of alcohol in the human body could trigger aggressive individuals to commit a crime. As part of the recommended ways on how Newark police officers could effectively control the incidence of crime within the city, Masterson, Bieter and Sander (2007) suggest the importance of not only increasing the number of available street lights in public areas but also encourage the public establishments like bars and restaurants to voluntarily eliminate “drink all you can” offers and ‘after hours’ venues since closing bars as late as 4:00 am can contribute to a signficiant increase in crime rate. Travellers, passers by, and people who often stay late outside the comfort of their own home are the once who can be an easy target of a crime. This is true especially in the case of individuals who are often walking alone in dark places. Aside from encouraging cafes’ to operate its businesses in sidewalks only up to 2:00am, police officers in Newark should also control the pick ups and drop offs of taxi cab by implementing a new Taxi Ordinance. This strategy will improve the convenience and public safety of the commuters (Masterson, Bieter and Sander 2007). Because of the importance of DNA identification in violent crime, the US police officers and law enforcement group has been considering the importance of creating DNA idenfitication record from each person by screening the blood samples from all newborns when trying to identify possible genetic diseases from the infants (Lazer 2004, pp. 260 – 265). Another possible DNA identification is to create digitalized collection of identified fingerprints (Finn 2009, p. xxi; Lazer 2004, pp. 260 – 265). Although the use of DNA identification record is useful in terms of protecting the victims of a crime in terms of positively identifying the suspect or identify a missing person, Lazer (2004, p. 265) revealed that the process of gathering and establishing a universal DNA identification database would subject the entire nation as a potential suspect of a crime and loss of anonymity. *** End *** Appendix I – Total Violent Crimes and Non-Violent Crimes Reported by Newark Police Department 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Population 279,203 279,788 280,158 280,877 281,063 279,857 278,551 279,262 275,823 273,546 Total Violent Crimes Reported by Newark Police Murder / Man-slaughter 80 67 104 105 97 84 81 65 90 58 Rape 68 51 60 87 83 73 85 88 91 95 Robbery 1319 1387 1101 1288 1250 1345 1304 1567 1837 1923 Aggravated Assualt 1130 1155 1124 1359 1391 1365 1261 1473 1819 2016 Total Violent Crime 2597 2660 2389 2839 2812 2867 2731 3193 3937 4092 Total Non-Violent Crimes Reported by Newark Police Burglary 1947 2000 1914 1982 2056 2159 2281 2253 2552 2765 Larceny Theft 3781 3996 4385 4377 4974 5252 5562 6033 6324 7364 Vehicle Theft 3094 3754 4365 5097 5690 5788 6018 6335 6035 5442 Arson 85 92 93 166 Total Property Crime 8822 9750 10664 11456 12720 13199 13861 14621 14911 15571 Source: FBI 2009 References Brown, B. and Beneditc, W., 2002. Perceptions of the police: past findings, methodological issues and policy implication. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management , 25(3), pp. 543 - 580. Cao, L., Frank, J., and Cullen, F., 1996). Race, community context, and confidence in police. American Journal of Police , 15, pp. 3 - 22. CQ Press, 2010. 2010 City Crime Rate Rankings. [online] Available at: [Accessed 7 December 2010]. Dempsey, J. and Forst, L., 2010. An Introduction to Policing. Delmar Cengage Learning. Dunham, R. and Alpert, G., 1998. Neighborhood differences in attitudes toward policing: evidence for a mixed-strategy model for policing in a multi-ethnic setting. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology , 79, pp. 504 - 521. El-Rabbany, A., 2002. Introduction to GPS: the Global Positioning System. Artech House, Inc. FBI, 2009. New Jersey Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City, 2009. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Felson, M. and Clarke, R., 1998. RDS. Opportunity Makes the Thief. Practical theory for crime prevention. Police Research Series. Paper 98. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Filbert, K., 2008. Geography & Public Safety. Targeting Crime in Hot Spots and Hot Places. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Finn, J., 2009. Capturing the criminal image: from mug shot to surveillance society. Regents of the University of Minnesota. Fischer, E. and Jones, N., 2001. DNA identification and evidence: applications and issues. Novinka Books. GeoDa Center, 2010. GeoDa Center & Affiliated Software. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Hagy, D. and Peed, C., 2008, February. Geography & Public Safety. Retrieved December 8, 2010, from A Quarterly Bulletin of Applied Geography for the Study of Crime & Public Safety. Vol. 1, Issue 1. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Kusow, A., Wilson, L. and Martin, D., 1997. Determinants of citizen satisfaction with the police: the effects of residential location. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategy and Management , 20, pp. 655 - 664. Lazer, D., 2004. DNA and the criminal justice system: the technology of justice. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Levine, N. and Associates, 2010, July. Crime Stat III. A Spatial Statistics Program for the Analysis of Crime Incident Locations. The National Institute of Justice. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Masterson, M., Bieter, D. and Sander, K., 2007, July 25. Programs Promoting Safety And Partnerships Downtown Are Working!. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Newark Police Department, 2010. Official Website. [online] Available at : [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Newark Police Department, 2010 b. Internship Application. [online] Available at : [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Newburn, T., 2003. Handbook of Policing. Willan Publishing. ORNL, 2010. DNA Forensics. [online] Available at : [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Paynich, R., and Hill, B., 2010. Fundamentals of Crime Mapping. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, 2010. R Administration and Public Safety. [online] Available at : [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Rutgers-Newark Department of Public Safety, 2010. Safety Matters. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Sampson, R. and Jeglum-Bartush, D., 1998. Legal cynicism and (subcultural?) tolerance of deviance: the neighborhood context of racial differences. Law and Society Review , 32, pp. 777 - 804. Siegel, L., 2010. Introduction to Criminal Justice. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. University of Delaware, 2010. Police Services. About UD Police Services. [online] Available at : [Accessed 8 December 2010]. University of Delaware, 2010 b. Police Services. Safety Tips. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. US Census Bureau, 2010. The 2009 population estimate for Newark city, New Jersey is 278,154. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 December 2010]. US Department of Justice, 2002. Promoting Partnerships for Public Safety. [online] Available at : [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Wilson, R. and Smith, K., 2008, February. Geography & Public Safety. Retrieved December 8, 2010, from A Quarterly Bulletin of Applied Geography for the Study of Crime and Public Safety. Vol. 1, Issue 1. [online] Available at : [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Read More