Community Policing in America

“Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. I want to thank the general manager and the organizers of this great event for giving me a chance to share a few words with you. I’m Emma Rachael, an international law student from this institution. I’m much proud to stand here today and share with you all some of the global effects of community policing.

What is community policing? This is an act of the law that is meant to bring the citizens and the police together so that they can eliminate crimes and solve problems originating from the neighborhood (Lord, 2003). For sure with community policing in position, it is possible to control crimes from happening by giving citizens more power to control their quality of life within the same community (Kumar, 2012). Some of the effects of community policing include reduction of the fear for crimes and victimization of individuals, citizen dissatisfaction resulting from police harassment to the minority group and stress among the police while changing the organizational structure and responsibility.

Led to the reduction of the fear for crimes and victimization of individuals

The major reason for the implementation of the community-based policing was to involve members of the society in monitoring crimes and making sure that any criminal within the community is identified and accused in the court of law (Wilson & Cox, 2008). Now that community policing require that the police should be close to the citizen, this makes the residents feel secure and build trust in the police. As the police-citizen trusts grow, the fear for crimes must reduce significantly (Lord, 2003). Therefore, the community is likely to express a favorable opinion for the police, which will empower the police in safeguarding the community and eradicating all the major and minor criminals from that particular society.

Results to police harassment to the minority group

Harassments by the police have developed to be a critical issue in recent decades after the implementation of the community policing in America (Kumar, 2012). For instance, many locals especially African American have been butchered and caned by police brigadiers due to victimization and poor crime detection system (Wilson & Cox, 2008). Even with the reported cases, the officers who have been tried in court with the harassment charges, have had courts rule in their favor. This has encouraged more cases of harassment by the police officers.

Furthermore, in other cases, police officers have evaded jail time due to courts’ system inequalities. This results since not all the members of the community are willing to get involved in the community policing (Kumar, 2012). Only a small group of people is involved and are led by personal interests.

Strain and stress among the police officers in restructuring departments

Community-based policing is different as compared to the traditional approach of policing about the role of the police (Wilson & Cox, 2008). Implementation of this new policing is considered a stressful act that calls for a restructuring of the departments and defining new responsibilities to the police. According to Vivian B. Lord’s (2003) study in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the sergeants feel that they don’t have the freedom to take up their social support responsibilities as before even though they are charged with such powers.

To summarize everything, community policing is a good move in American which can aid the society in curbing criminal acts if well implemented. Thank you all for listening to me.”

References

Lord, V. B. (1996). An impact of community policing: Reported stressors, social support, and strain among police officers in a changing police department. Journal of Criminal Justice, 24(6), 503-522.

Wilson, J. M., & Cox, A. G. (2008). Community policing and crime: The process and impact of         problem-solving in Oakland. RAND.

Kumar, V. T. (2012). mpact of Community Policing on Public Satisfaction and Perception of Police. International Criminal Justice Review.

Teacher, Law. (November 2013). Advantages and disadvantages of community policing. Retrieved from https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminology/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-community-policing.php?vref=1.