Three Part Paper On Public Policy Concerning Modern Policing, Human Capital And Health Care

Community Policing Issues

Part I

Contemporary Police theory or Modern policing is focusing on crime and social disorder through the delivery of police services, which include aspects of traditional law enforcement, as well as prevention, problem-solving, community engagement, and partnerships. The community policing model balances reactive responses to calls for service with proactive problem-solving which centers on the cause of crime and disorder. Community policing requires police and citizens to join together as partners in the course of both identifying and effectively addressing these issues. Community policing is police patrolling a given area not to protect against crime, but to mitigate the effects of crime before they start.

Modern policing has returned to its roots, the legacy of Alfred the Great. (The first time in English history that a leader or authority figure was considered financially obligated to catch criminals). Community Policing is made up of three core elements; Organizational Elements, Tactical Elements, and External elements.

Organizational Elements

These elements can be broken up into five areas; Philosophy Adopted Organization-Wide, Decentralized Decision-Making and Accountability, Fixed Geographic Accountability and Generalist Responsibilities, Utilization of Volunteer Resources, and Enhancers. Organizational elements also deal with interoperability between agencies local, state and federal.

Philosophy adopted organization-wide

Department-wide adoption of community policing is evident by community policing characteristics in each departments; mission statements, policies and procedures, performance evaluations and hiring and promotional practices, training programs and other systems and activities that define organizational culture and activities. Organizational systems support and value a service orientation for seasoned personnel and new recruits alike by stressing the importance of different units within the agency working cooperatively in support of community policing. Implementation of the community policing may occur incrementally and within specialized units at first, but a defined path leads towards full, department-wide implementation.

Decentralized decision-making and accountability

In community policing, individual officers are given the authority to solve problems and make operational decisions suitable to their roles, both individually and collectively. Each individual is allowed to make judgments to the best of their abilities. Leadership is required and rewarded at every level, with managers, supervisors, and officers all held accountable for decisions and the effects of those decisions throughout the community.

Fixed geographic accountability and generalist responsibilities

In community policing, the majority of staffing, command, deployment, and tactical decision-making are geographically based. Appropriate personnel are assigned to fixed geographic areas for extended periods of time in order to foster communication and partnerships between individual officers and their community, they are accountable for reducing crime and disorder within their assigned area. The geographic boundaries are naturally determined based more on communities rather than statistical divisions. Areas may overlap or be far apart based on the community characteristics.

Utilization of Volunteer Resources

Community policing encourages the use of non-law enforcement resources within a police department. Volunteerism is a way to involve active citizens with law enforcement agencies. The law enforcement organization educates the public about ways that they can partner with the police department and its members to further community policing, and provides an effective way to receive citizen input. Volunteer efforts can also help to free up officer time, and allow sworn personnel to be more proactive and prevention oriented. Examples of such resources might include police reserves, volunteers, Explorer Scouts, service organizations, and citizen or youth police academies.

Enhancers

There are a number of enhancers and facilitators that may assist departments in their transition to community policing. For example, updated technology and information systems ( such as GIS) can facilitate community policing by providing officers access to crime and incident data which supports problem analysis or increases officer field time by reducing time spent on administrative duties. The end result is officers spend more time in the community. In addition, enhanced technological and analytical capabilities allow the agency to gather timely information about crime problems, which supports better resource and personnel deployment while providing officers a better understanding of the problems within their geographic areas.

Tactical Elements

The tactical elements of community policing are made up of three pieces; Enforcement of Laws, Proactive Crime Prevention-Oriented, and Problem Solving.

Enforcement of Laws

Community policing works excellent with proven and established enforcement strategies, it is one of many tools available to officers that can be collectively employed to prevent and combat crime. Community policing places emphasis on the quality of individual and group efforts. In addition, police departments should be active partners in identifying laws that need to be amended or enacted, then working with lawmakers and organizing citizen support efforts to change them (such as CERT teams and Neighborhood watch). Collectively, these activities allow police agencies to address underlying conditions that lead to crime while strongly enforcing weak points within their community.

Proactive Crime Prevention-Oriented

Departments became highly reactive under the traditional model of policing. Law enforcement responded to calls for service from citizens and focused primarily on arresting offenders after crimes had been committed. Under community policing, law enforcement focuses not only on enforcement, but also on crime prevention and proactively addressing the root causes of crime and disorder. The community actively engages in collaborating on prevention and problem-solving activities with a goal of reducing the victimization and fear caused by crime.

Problem Solving

Police, community members, and other public and private entities work together to