Benefits and Challenges of Community Policing - Research Paper Example

? Community Policing: Benefits and Challenges This paper discuses the concept of community policing as interpreted by different people. It shows the ambiguous and ambitious of the concept with the radical chances it promises to give improving the life of the community as a whole. It also looks at the goal and objectives, benefits and the challenges that are pulling it back. Introduction Community policing is a concept that has been used to establish the possible effectiveness of community involvement in combating crime and disorder. It is that excellent opportunity for the government and the police to attend the needs of the costumers in the society (Cheurprakobkit, 2002). Many central and eastern European countries have for several years’ experienced totalitarian governments where the national police forces were used to intimidate and rule citizens. These incidents gave many police forces bad reputation as they were considered to be part of the problem, rather than the answer to the people’s freedom of expression, religion, or association. However, many professional and scholars have used this concept to mean different things and replace other terms such as crime prevention, police –community relations, foot patrol and more. Following these events, most of these countries are now trying to re-establish the integrity of their police forces. It is for this reason that community policing could be used to improve the image of the police. It is barely when the police and the public work collectively, will the citizens feel that they can reinstate the trust they ought to have with the police (Greene, 2000). Once this is done, the citizen can be able to provide the police with information and assistance that will help curb crimes and arrest more criminals. Consequently the police will be able to serve their communities better, fulfill their task of protecting and serving the public. More over, they will earn legitimacy in the eyes of the public (Cheurprakobkit, 2002). It is worth noting that, we must first understand the role in which we want our police to fulfill in society so as to establish the type and model of communication that will be fit for a specific community. The most common models of communication include the crime prevention and peace preservation policing, communication policing and community building policing (Duman, 2008). All these work under the community policing but differ with the logistics. Community policing also known as community engagement could be understood in other different ways. Some parts of the world have used community policing to involve people in health awareness such that, in cases of health issue, the neighbors can provide support to one another (Greene, 2000). This experience of living in a supportive environment has reduced the likelihood of individuals suffering from depression related illness or engaging in unhealthy behavior such as drug abuse. The growing appreciation of the needs for schools and educational authorities has led to cultivation of strong relations with communities due to the engagement of local people and local groups. Schools have a primarily important role to play in communal life. They are liable for shaping the life chances and character of the children in the community. By involving parents, pupils and locals in decision making process, schools have gained the confidence and teamwork of the public as a whole (Greene, 2000). Currently, the most impressive body of community policing involves community engagement, employment and prosperity. This has been through social networks correlating positively with employment opportunities. Extensive networks have provided job leads, tactical advice and extent of information which serves as a bridge to job seekers (Greene, 2000). Goals and Objectives Every organization has got goals and objectives in which to adhere to. Community policing of any form must have a number of objective. First, it improves human and social works among the government and the organization i.e. police and further builds closer relations between the organization or the force and the community as a whole (Duman, 2008). It acts as a preventive device in ensuring that crimes are prevented in the society before they are committed through the help of the community. More over, it is mandated to finding out the subjective and creative solutions for the community problems by inspiring the public to participate in the correction of wrong behaviors in the society. It develops tools of friendship with the police and voluntary work in the field of security. Benefits Communication policing has come with several benefits to the community and the people concerned as a whole (Palmiotto, 2011). There has been a choice of benefits associated with all types of community policing. First, there has been an informal interaction with family, friends, and community. Major participation in formal groups and associations and engagement with agencies and organizations that deliver public services or those responsible for planning and infrastructure (Cheurprakobkit, 2002). But all this require socialization, guardianship and information. It has provided the community with a voice in determining on the way it will be policed. Under this policing, the community partners with the police, to decide on the best style of policy to be used in the community. It has given the community chance to participate in setting law enforcement priorities and been adaptive to those priorities as the needs of the community change. Community policing tends to provide a lasting solution to recurring problems hence helping the community have the problems permanently eliminated (Palmiotto, 2011). Community policing provides stronger, safer and friendlier community in which to live. The community is also able to understand the capabilities and limitations of the police by being open to the community and letting them to see what the force is capable of doing with limited resources (Greene, 2000). Most importantly is that it provides closed working relationship with other governmental agencies in providing a higher level of service to the community, actually it is the first step of community government. It also improves communication, both within the community and within the police department hence enabling the department to increase the quality and quantity of criminal intelligence. As a result, most people are likely to give information to the police about crime related activities in the community (Cheurprakobkit, 2002). Thus, there is increased citizen support for department programs and budgets. On the hand of the force, community policing provides an opportunity to be creative, innovative, and have self satisfaction from solving problems. The force is given a chance to make a real difference while familiarizing with the community. Problems facing community policing Community policing has however, been faced by some challenges such as lack of cooperation between the community and the force (Palmiotto, 2011). One of the biggest challenge is the shifting of the policing from it traditional way of working to the community policing (Duman, 2008). This is because the traditional policing is reactive in nature where it reacts to crimes and infractions been committed while community policing is proactive in nature where the police are assigned specific geographic areas to establish ties with various community groups. This shifting has worsened the poor public image that has been there since time in memorial. Actually, the community perceives them as people who work on orders of the government in intimidating the public (Duman, 2008). The police force on the other hand, has been struggling with poor customer service which has eventually discouraged the public from reporting a crime. In addition, some of the community members believe that crimes are sources of livelihood hence do not cooperate in correcting wrong behaviors. Of most important is the fact that there has been poor implementation approaches such as lack of civic education and mismanagement of confidential information by the police (Palmiotto, 2011). Conclusion Although community policing has not been there for long and could be said to be in it growth path some positive result are gradually been noticed especially with the fact that it has created a safer environment that has been preceded by the joint cooperation between the force and the community as a whole, there has also been notable public participation in correcting wrong behavior as well as improving the standards of services been offered to the community by different government institution other than the police force. To be effective the community needs a democratic environment to flourish in. This can only happen if the police force and the community form a partnership of equality and learn to trust each other with the understanding that all this will be beneficial to the community. References: Greene, J. (2000). Community Policing in America: Changing the Nature, Structure and Function of the Police. Criminal justice, 3: 299-370. Cheurprakobkit, S. (2002). Community policing: training, definitions and policy implications, An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 25, 4: 709-725. Duman, A. (2008). The applicability of community policing: trade-offs and the USA case. Turkish Journal of Police Studies, 10, 4: 95- 112. Palmiotto, M. (2011). Community Policing: A Police-Citizen Partnership. New York: Taylor & Francis. Read More