impact community policing has on the attitudes and behavior of officers

 impact community policing has on the attitudes and behavior of officers

With regards to the President’s Taskforce in 21st Century Policing, community policing has upheld the themes of crime reduction policy, building trust, and officer wellness and safety. Community-based programs have led to the interaction of police officers with citizens of the community, thus establishing feelings of trust, especially from the community to the police. Trust leads to better collaborations to ensure a safer environment for members of the community. Regarding crime reduction, constant foot patrols have yielded results by increasing safety, thus reducing the rate of offense. This also goes hand in hand with the development of trust in the police system. Policy effects can be felt in the provision of services to the community and the attitudes of the officers towards citizens, and vice versa. Moreover, officer wellness and safety are promoted through the promotion of healthy working environments. This effect can also be evidenced by the impact community policing has on the attitudes and behavior of officers.

The community policing and crime reduction is the pillar of recommendations to the police force aimed at helping restore sanity to the police force. The component has some suggested recommendations towards the success of the pillar. The pillar anticipates for collaboration between multiple individuals and organizations to “co-produce” public policy. It also calls for an infusion of community policing throughout the police force. Another recommendation of the pillar is the treatment of all members of the community with dignity no matter their status. Giving the youth a voice in society and reducing their marginalization. It also recommends that law enforcement involvement in school discipline should be reduced and enhancing school, community, and youth-led responses.

Community policing has been found to be very effective in crime reduction. The reason behind its success is that it involves the community directly. The community is charged with the duty of ensuring law and order is observed. By engaging members of the public in policing helps eradicate the use of excessive force by the police. When the members of the public know that they have a role to play in keeping safety in their community, the work of the police will be simplified. When the members of the public know that they can help avert criminal activities as the police do, they will develop a good relationship with the police because they will realize that the police do it for their common good.

Community participation is essential in ensuring safety in society. For the members of the public to help police carry out their duty of preventing crimes, there must be a well-built partnership between the police and the public. The partnership should be established on mutual responsiveness and equal footing for both parties. This partnership can be achieved through the integration of the police into the community for strengthening their legitimacy in improving services to the public. For the mutual relationship to be developed, the police should: be visible and accessible to the public, respond to the needs of the community, engage and mobilize the communities, listen to the concerns of the community, among other engagements.

Accessibility and visibility require the police to be approachable by the community members by being available within the neighborhood and behave in a manner that does not scare members of the public. Through daily interaction, members will familiarize themselves with the police. Police officers should be aware of the social foundation of the society they operate in. they should work with other stakeholders to formulate “social maps” of their neighborhood of operation

Another activity that can help police implement the recommendations of community policing and crime reduction is through strategic approaches. The approaches entail the creation of geographic neighborhood beats. By so doing, the police would focus on the assigned communities. Continuing assignment creates a room for universal acknowledgment and promotes communication with the public because the police would be meeting daily with the people. Through regular interaction, the police would get enough understanding of what matters to the community’s persons and groups and also be able to give to the public information about their actions. The officers assigned to the community would serve as a link between the public and the police agency and other stakeholders that provide help to the police force.

Through the availability of police, communication would be improved. This can be possible if the officers can decide to patrol on foot or on bicycles. Contact with the community can also be enhanced through the creation of substations with community contact points, among other important points within the community. The patrol officers and the substations’ atmosphere should appear welcoming, so it is easy for the police to get in contact with the public.

Among the recommendation of the task force under this pillar, I would instead observe the treatment of all people with dignity. The constitution requires all people to face equality before the law. Therefore, if the police take all people as equal, there won’t be any discrimination whatsoever. Treating all members of the public with dignity will close the gap between the police and the community as they would not be seen as enemies of the public but as friends. The community will be willing to work with the police in their pursuit of establishing law and order in society. Treating all people with dignity will help create a good relationship between the police and the general public, thus eliminating the chances of using excessive force by the police as they execute their duties.