Why community policing is important

One of the crucial challenges community policing faces will be to help officers recognize the benefits of reducing social disorder and encouraging public involvement in neighborhood problems in relation to solving crimes and making arrests. An additional concern is that an increase in the decision-making autonomy of line officers and closer police-community relations will provide the police with greater opportunities for abusing their authority and corruption.

Little work has been done on this, but the high levels of patronage and corruption that plagued the police in the nineteenth century an era characterized by close ties between the police, community members, and local politicians is a clear reminder of the danger of implicating the police directly in community life. Police-community problem solving.

One of the promises of community policing is that increased police-community cooperation will facilitate problem solving. Research in this area is still in its infancy, but initial findings are encouraging. A comparison of community policing officers to officers engaged in traditional reactive patrol demonstrated that community-policing officers were substantially more involved in problem-solving activities Mastrofski et al.

Furthermore, several studies suggest that police officers are willing to explore alternatives to law enforcement in order to tackle the underlying causes of community problems. An important element of this process is that the police work closely with other local government and community organizations. A project funded by the National Institute of Justice on community responses to drug abuse found that the police and local community organizations worked effectively together at both the level of enforcement and youth-oriented prevention Rosenbaum et al.

This means more interaction in general, but more importantly, it means more positive interaction. Trust and positive relationships increase willingness to cooperate and decrease fear, which in return contributes to de-escalation and increases safety—both perceptions of safety and actual, physical safety—for all involved. Improved police department efficiency : At a time when scrutiny of police budgets and resident engagement about police department activity have skyrocketed , community policing can actually help police departments be more effective and resource-efficient.

But … does community policing reduce crime? What are the recognized problems of community policing? Criticisms of community policing include: That it favors certain community members white, middle-class or only strongly benefits specific community interests — for example, those of local business owners. That it can be a mask for embedding more police officers in communities where distrust in police officers is already high.

Rather than improving relations and partnering with local leaders and community members, this simply increases police presence and increases policing. That it is a superficial solution rather than a cultural shift — and without real organizational change, it cannot work. In this way, community policing is too dependent on leadership and having the right leader. That it is a multi-stakeholder framework — and community involvement is just as important as the officers involved.

How can an agency deploy community policing effectively? To learn more about how Zencity can support community policing efforts and help your police department improve relations between residents and officers, speak to one of our team members today.

The guidelines for the Internal Affairs function address every aspect, from complaint processing to decision making, discipline, notification, and community transparency. Other initiatives the IACP is working on in conjunction with the COPS Office are an exploration of promising community policing practices in Indian Country; bridging the gap with communities of color; helping the VERA Institute gauge concerns regarding officers of color for community trust building; developing officer shooting protocols; and taking a look at community oriented policing with an eye toward innovation.

We do not yet know what the future of community oriented policing looks like, but as indicated by these projects, the IACP, the COPS Office, and police leaders throughout the profession are working each day to ensure that community policing remains the key to safer neighborhoods and communities.

No matter what evolution takes place within the community oriented policing model, it is imperative that you and your agency invest in your community early. Citizens will continue to be at the heart of any successful police reduction in crime effort. The support of the community is key, and police leaders from around the globe rely on it. They have supported staffing, leadership capacity building and program initiatives. They need focused, coordinated programming from all levels of government.

Community policing aligns with the goal of promoting strong neighbourhoods. The irony is not lost on neighbourhood groups that, with some justification, are suspicious when theirs is the first voice to be lost in the discussion of balancing budgets.

What was the thinking that went in to the cancellation of community policing? Were all the returns from the investment in community policing properly identified and weighed?