Crime Prevention

Crime Prevention

Community Policing

Community policing began in the early 80s in the U.S. and Europe. It not only enables the police to maintain regular and daily contact with citizens and community organizations and to plan together their actions, but also provides the methods required for police action in order to improve the work and services to people. This is undoubtedly a modern model of policing, with intact human dimension, which is already implemented in most European countries with a view to bring the police closer to the citizen and everyday needs. The relevant research results have shown that closer cooperation between the community and police increases the level of satisfaction towards the police, reduce fear of crime and generally improves the quality of life of the community.

The model of community policing is a new philosophy of police action focusing on the prevention of petty crime in partnership with residents and local organizations, thus strengthening the feeling of security within the community. This, of course, arose from the necessity of the return of the police to the real dimension of the mission, which is the continuous and immediate presence of near-routine problems of citizens. This need was particularly pressing for the major urban centers of developed democratic societies, where the anonymity of the crowd combined with the increase in petty crime (theft, burglary, fighting injuries and property damage, etc.) causes insecurity and generally dominates the public fear of crime.

The effectiveness of the model of community policing depends solely on the level of organization and administration of the Police, but also the degree of participation of citizens and local actors. Community policing can yield positive results when grown in a police system that is characterized by the elements of autonomy, decentralization, flexibility in decision making, innovative leadership, participatory governance, transparency and openness. In other words, a combination of ideological, practical and theoretical evidence which together form the backbone of the model of community policing. Certainly, community policing requires good police-public relations and, above all, the existence of a climate of mutual trust between community members and police which is indeed needed in the long run. Investigations conducted in several European countries, for example, in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and other countries with historically good relations between police and community, have highlighted serious problems in the implementation of the model of 'community policing' due to the reluctance of citizens, especially young people, to participate in collective social efforts to support the Police or to participate in formulating policing policies. Today, community policing has been adopted by all modern police, of course without it meaning that the application comes to solve all the problems encountered in the course of time, as a consequence of the major social changes, and it continues to exist in all developed societies (Trojanowicz & Bucqueroux, 1990).

The COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) office is a sub-branch of the Justice Department of the United States. It was formed as a result of a provision in the 1994 Act of Violence Control and Law Enforcement.

Community Corrections

The mandate of the Correctional Services is to supervise the detention and ...