| How Does Community Policing Work |
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| Expanded Policing Goals |
| Crime prevention takes on renewed importance in community policing as the police and the community become partners in addressing problems of disorder and neglect that can breed serious crime. As links between the police and the community are strengthened over time, the partnership is better able to pinpoint and mitigate the underlying causes of crime. |
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| Community Policing Relies on active Community Involvement |
| Community policing recognizes that community involvement gives new dimensions to crime control activities. While police continue to handle crime fighting and law enforcement responsibilities, the police and community work together to modify conditions that can encourage criminal behavior. The resource available within communities allow for an expanded focus on crime - prevention activities. |
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| Police service Delivered through he Neighborhood Patrol Officer |
| Patrol officers and deputes are the primary providers of police in communities policing efforts. They handle the daily policing needs of the community. The entire police organization backs the efforts of the neighborhood officers. Effective community policing depends on optimizing contact between patrol officers and community embers so that the officer develops an intimate knowledge of the day to day workings of then community and become a familiar figure to community members. |
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| Trust is the Heart |
Establishing and maintaining mutual trust is the central goal of community partnership. Trust will give the police greater access to valuable information that can lead to the prevention of the solution of crimes. It will also engender support for police activities and provide a basis for productive working relationship with the community that will find solutions to local prblems.
Given the current climate of distrust in many of our communities, sheriffs and police chiefs and their officer will need to make a concerted effort to forge bonds of understanding and cooperation with community members. Building trust will require ongoing effort, but it is essential to effective community policing. |
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| Long -Term Commitment Needed |
| Community policing does not offer a quick fix. It requires a long-term commitment by police to work with community members to reach mutually agreed- upon goals. Forming lasting partnerships to eradicate the underlying causes of crime will take effort, time and patience on the part of all involved. |
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| Wide-Ranging Benefits |
| Law enforcement is finding that in addition to bringing police closer to the people , community policing offers an myriad of other benefits. Making effective use of the talents and resources available within communities will help extend severely strained police resources. As police interaction with community becomes more positive, productive partnerships will be formed, leading to greater satisfaction with police resources to be allocated to services that have the greatest impact on the quality of community life. |
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| More effective Ways to Solve Ongoing Problems |
| Law Enforcement leaders seeking innovative ways to enhance performance and maximize resources have struck and responsive chord across the nation with a variety of community policing initiatives. Government and community leaders are increasingly cognizant that they must accept a share of the responsibility for problems caused by lapses in many areas of society . Police have long borne a disproportionate share of this burden. |
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| Renewal Emphasis on Crime Prevention |
Law enforcement is looking to enhance its tough stance on crime with renewed focus on strategies that help prevent crime, reduce fear of crime and improve the quality of life neighborhoods. This requires an intimate knowledge of the community.
Policing concepts currently in vogue have tended to isolate officers from the communities they serve which can hamper crime control efforts. Community policing allows law enforcement to get back to the principles upon which it was founded, to integrate itself once again into the fabric of the community so that people come to the police for counsel and help before a serious problem arises, not after the fact. |
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What is Community Policing? |
| Partnership |
Effective community policing has a positive impact on
reducing neighborhood crime, helping to reduce fear of crime and enhancing the
quality of life in the community. It accomplishes these things by combining the
efforts and resources of the police, local government and community members. |
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| An Idea for the Times |
| Community policing is a collaborative effort between the police and the
community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all
elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems. It is
founded on close, mutually beneficial ties between police and community
members. Community policing offers a way for law enforcement to help
re-energize our communities. Developing strong, self-sufficient communities is
an essential step in creating an atmosphere in which serious crime will not
flourish. |
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| A Practical Approach to problems |
Community policing seeks the input and talents of all members
of the community in the effort to safeguard out neighborhoods Community policing
is being advocated by leaders at the highest levels of government-including
President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno, who describe it as the
“changing of policing.” It has even been suggested that community policing can
play a primary role in directing the way government services are provided at the
community level. |
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| Getting Back to the People |
At the center of community policing are three essential and
complementary core components: community partnership, problem solving and change
management. Community partnership recognizes the value of bringing the people
back into the policing process. All elements of society must pull together as
never before if we are to deal effectively with the unacceptable level of crime
claiming our neighborhoods. Problem solving identifies the specific concerns
that community members feel are most threatening to their safety and
well-being. These areas of concern then become priorities for joint
police-community interventions.
Change management requires a clear recognition that forging
community policing partnership and implementing problem-solving activities will
necessitate change in the organizational structure of policing. Properly
managed change involves recognition of the need for change, the communication of
a clear vision that change is possible, the identification of the concrete steps
needed for positive change to occur, the development of an understanding of the
benefits of change, as well as the creation of an organization-wide commitment
to change. |
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| What Makes Community Policing Different? |
Law enforcement has long recognized the need for cooperation
with the community it serves. Officers speak to neighborhood groups,
participate in business and civic events, consult with social agencies and take
part in education programs for school children. Foot, bike horse patrols bring
police closer to the community. |
