Community-oriented policing is a structural organization that leads the community and the law enforcement units to unite in ensuring community safety and curbing crimes in the society. Community-based policies have improved life since the police get first-hand information from society and apprehend criminals quickly to thus pre-empting the occurrence of crime ( Tillyer, 2018). The police initiate dialogue with the citizens, and policymakers and come up with solutions for issues affecting the society.
The Role of Law Enforcement in Community-Oriented Policing
States devoid of community-oriented policing have difficulties in the successful reduction of crimes. The people have to gain trust with the police for them to provide necessary information to the police, hence the need for law enforcement to invest time in the societies (Uluturk et al., 2017). The law enforcers’ efforts in the collection of valuable intelligence require community members to assist in identifying possible criminal behavior since neighbors have information on the daily routines of their acquaintances. Law enforcement agencies can use groups in a community like religious groups, individual citizens, and community leaders as their source of viable intelligence.
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Easy and Swift Investigations
The routine strategies used in investigations by police in the collection of information are successful though time-consuming. Undercover assignments might be dangerous to the police personnel due to the person to person interactions required. Some investigations have large volumes of paperwork required to lead to successful convictions for the criminals. Having the community trust can have eyewitnesses of crimes that give out first-hand information during investigations.
Police Services Improvement
Law enforcement officers might not be aware of what happens in every street in their line of duty. Invoking community support improves police efficiency through the provision of relevant information. The community acts as the eyes and ears of the police and provides the information when needed (Lysakow et al., .2016) . Through community service orientation, police officers manage to stand out among their colleagues by gaining the community trust hence promotion to higher ranks at work.
Officers deployed in a community require informal engagement with the community to minimize antagonisms and facilitate friendly police-community interactions. In some cases, police officers who lack a good relationship with the communities encounter hostility from citizens. Officers new in the areas of operations take time to forge working relationships with the community and understanding their way of life, hence rely on motorized patrols to guide their safety.
Reduction of Crime Rate
The community aims to reduce crime rates in society through recommendations from society. For safer communities, police leaders work daily in ensuring community-oriented policies prevails to assist their investigations (Diehr & McDaniel, 2018). The police statistics on crime indicate that citizens play the most prominent role in the reduction of crime rates from society, hence the reasons why police try to foster trust with the community ( Tillyer, 2018). Neighborhood groups created by police reduce the chances of neighbors becoming victims of crimes, thus reduction of the financial cost associated with criminal offenses. The fact that people live in a community gives the members a sense of belonging and safety, leading to the achievement of the critical goal of the police.
The advice from the police has led to house owners taking safety issues more seriously. Property owners and tenants have improved efforts like securing front doors and easily accessible windows. The police advised people in community groups to mark valuables with their serial number hence easy to track items in case of theft cases. Police have mobilized and organized functional neighborhood watch groups, which continue to recruit more neighbors with time (Diamond & Weiss, 2016) . These vigilante groups are often on the lookout for criminal behavior and respond promptly, thus curtailing the rate of crime
Unifying the Community
The law enforcement officers and members of the community have different roles to play in the fight against crime. The tasks might vary, but they are all geared towards achieving a common goal. This synergy enhances unity, as all the people involved have to work together for effectiveness. The police accommodate different opinions and perspectives from different people without discriminating against certain members (Tillyer, 2018). The ancient perception that the police officers are supreme created schism between the law enforcers and civilians. Community policing has helped demystify this notion, thereby bridging the divide between the two factions. Creating trust and proper working relations between the civilians and law enforcers has helped put up a united front. The introduction of neighborhood vigilante groups has assisted people in bonding as neighbors hence low chances of harming each other. Also, sidelines members of the community may find it difficult to seek help from their neighbors, prompting the need for oneness and taking part in community policing activities.
Recommendation to the Local, State, and Federal Law Enforcement Officers
Officer Education and Training
The traditional training programs for law enforcement officers focused on police-centered crime prevention. The officers were the sole determinants of how to fight crime in most community settings, creating a divide between the police and civilians. Effective community policing strategies begin with changing the training programs and equipping the law enforces with cultural competency skills. The training programs should incorporate aspects of cultural sensitivity, fairness, interpersonal relations, attitudes, and respect for community ideologies ( Uluturk, Guler, & Karakaya, 2017). A multicultural community requires the application of different cultural approaches to mitigate the challenges of cultural diversity.
Diversity in the Departments
Education and training on cultural competence are not adequate in the implementation of effective community policing strategies. The recruitment and hiring process also plays an important role in this process. It is difficult for a law enforcement officer to understand all the practices and norms of a multicultural society. Thus, there is a need to ensure that staffing of the police departments follows a pattern of creating a culturally diverse workforce ( Lysakowski, Persall, & Pope, 2016). In a region or city with people from 50 cultures, for example, more than half of the cultures need to be represented. Creating this balance makes it easy for the law enforces to understand the different cultures and interact with the community members at different levels.
Conclusion
Community-orientated policing assists law enforcement authorities and police in getting supportive interactions, listen to citizens' problems, and solve the identified issues. The citizens’ attitude towards the police and vice visa improves during the interactions of citizens as the two groups have a common goal of crime reduction. Police benefit from the community-orientated policies through more accessible and swift investigations on crime while citizens enjoy safer neighborhoods. The policies introduced many people to neighborhood watch groups hence increased security for properties and vigilance in reports related to suspicious incidents. Neighborhood watch groups do not have the authority to take action over crime incidences' but the information they render to police assists all the neighbors
References
Diamond, D., & Weiss, D. M. (2016). Advancing community policing through community governance: A framework document.
Diehr, A. J., & McDaniel, J. T. (2018). Lack of community-oriented policing practices partially mediates the relationship between racial residential segregation and “black-on-black” homicide rates. Preventive medicine , 112 , 179-184.
Lysakowski, M., Persall, A., & Pope, J. (2016). Policing in new immigrant communities.
Tillyer, R. (2018). Assessing the impact of community-oriented policing on the arrest. Justice Quarterly , 35 (3), 526-555
Uluturk, B., Guler, A., & Karakaya, M. (2017). Police officers’ attitudes toward the implementation of community-oriented policing in Turkey. Crime & Delinquency , 63 (14), 1946-1967.
