Increasing Community Policing Practices

Abstract

It was not after the 1980s, that the concept of reducing crime with the help of a community policing started gaining momentum in the United States. It is a kind of connection that is created between the police and citizens of any community, for the sake of a safer living while working together. The basic concept in community policing is to establish a closer working relationship between the two, in order to give the police more confidence. It involves several targeted strategies on which the police engage with the communities for common purposes. The practice of involving the police and the local communities for a single cause, have proved to be beneficial especially in the bridging gap between them.

Increasing Community Policing Practices

Introduction

Community policing is now regarded as a practical and effective method through which bilateral relations between the police and any community can be improved. It is basically the name of a philosophy behind which is the idea of promoting the use of problem-solving techniques with the help of strong partnership.

When the situation of street crimes became increasinlg volatile during the early 1980s, the concept of community policing started emerging. Community policing as a professional model entered the U.S. police department and got recognition a century before. It changed the role of old police from just solving criminal cases to encouraging more creative and broad solutions to problems. When the police shared their responsibilities to for the purpose of maintining law and order, every member of the community became equally active and started taking part in efforts to improve safety. Community members also found it easy to communicate their concerns with the police. However, building a constructive and strong partnership between the community and the police requires time, energy and understanding. Trust is the essence of any organized and established community policing. In several communities it can take ages to break the barriers, while in others if a firm base of trust is laid, an effective partnership between police and community is possible. The chances that the police will work successfully, without the cooperation of community are less. Any community without contribution demoralizes the police and its efforts (Miller, Hess & Orthmann, 2010).

Discussion

Purposes of Evaluation

Evaluation of program approaches differ, so each has to be taken and review with individual approach, because their main purpose is to highlight the importance of any program (Posavac, 2011).

Elements of Community Policing ...