Crime is among the challenges that the US has grappled with for ages. In a report that it released recently, the Pew Research Center observed that violent crime in the US has been declining for years (Gramlich, 2018). While this is encouraging, law enforcement agencies should remain vigilant and focused on keeping American communities safe. Given that the US has been witnessing a decline in crime, one would expect that the public would feel more secure. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The Pew Research Center observed that many Americans are concerned that crime rates are on the rise (Gramlich, 2018). The concerns of the American people underscore the need for the adoption of effective crime prevention strategies. These strategies should particularly be implemented in areas which are witnessing high crime levels. Community policing is a crime prevention approach that has proven effective and promises to help various US cities to effectively tackle crime.
Summary of Jurisdiction
While crime is a problem for the whole of the US, there are certain parts of the country which experience extremely high crime levels. Detroit is among these parts. In 2017, the FBI released a report which identified Detroit as the city with the highest rate of violent crime in the country. The city recorded over 13,000 violent crimes that ranged from murder and assault to rape and robbery (“FBI: Detroit has Nation’s”, 2017). 2016 is not isolated in its record of high rates of crime. Historically, Detroit has witnessed thousands of violent crimes every year. For example, in 2016, the number of violent crimes that the FBI recorded for Detroit was over 12,000 (“FBI: Detroit has Nation’s”, 2017). To help eradicate violent crime in Detroit, the city’s police department needs to revamp its efforts. In the following sections, it will be proposed that the Detroit Police Department should adopt community policing as part of its crime prevention strategy. Community policing is among the standard and most effective approaches to crime prevention. This approach is designed to prevent crime by allowing citizens to help the police department through such measures as providing useful information and identifying crime hotspots. Furthermore, through community policing, the Detroit Police Department will repair its relationship with the community. In the past, the relations between the police and residents of Detroit have been strained. The police tend to use extreme force and face accusations of terrorizing the poor residents of the city (Jay, 2017). Community policing should help to rebuild trust and promote collaboration between the residents and the police department.
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Data from Similar Jurisdictions
To ensure that a crime prevention strategy will be effective, a through scrutiny is needed. The SARA model is among the frameworks which law enforcement agencies can use to evaluate the effectiveness of a strategy. This model outlines four steps that should be followed. These steps are scanning, analysis, response and assessment (Clarke & Eck, n.d). The crime analysis triangle is also a useful tool for understanding the origins of crime and effective prevention strategies. The triangle describes how offenders and their victims are brought together in a particular place and time in the absence of a guardian (Clarke & Eck, n.d). Essentially, this triangle identifies the conditions needed for a criminal activity to occur.
While it has the highest rate of violent crime in the US, Detroit is not the only city that is grappling with high crime levels. There are other jurisdictions which offer insights into how Detroit can effectively address its crime challenge. Memphis, Baltimore and Milwaukee are some of the cities with worryingly high crime rates. Apart from having high crime rates, another similarity that these cities share with Detroit is their relatively high population sizes. The populations of the cities are 657936, 621252 and 600400 respectively (“The 30 Cities with the Highest”, 2017). The population of Detroit stands at 621252. The largely similar population sizes make the three cities ideal for a comparison with Detroit. In addition to having large populations, these cities also share the problem of poverty. For example, over 34% of households in Memphis earn incomes that are below $25,000 (Kennedy, 2015). The high rates of poverty help to explain why these cities struggle with violent crime. Scholars have established that there is a positive association between poverty and crime (Pare & Felson, 2014).
From the discussion above, it is evident that crime and poverty are some of the major challenges that Detroit, Baltimore, Memphis and Milwaukee grapple with. An examination of the situation in these cities reveals that there could be a link between the cities’ demographic profile and criminal activity. The African American community in these cities constitutes a significant proportion of their population. For example, in Detroit, African Americans account for 79.7% of the city’s population (US Census Bureau, n.d). In comparison, the proportion of the black community in Memphis, Baltimore and Milwaukee is 63.6%, 63.3% and 27.2% respectively. With the exception of Milwaukee, all the cities have high populations of the African American community. This is indeed curious and deserving of closer scrutiny.
To gain a fuller understanding of the crime situation in Detroit and the three cities discussed above, it is critical to compare their reality to national trends. Barry Latzer (2018) authored an article which examines the state of crime in the US. In the article, he gives particular focus to the impact that race and poverty have on the national crime trends. Latzer observes that neighborhoods that are largely inhabited by African Americans tend to record high levels of crime (Latzer, 2018). He proceeds to identify poverty as among the factors that fuel criminal activity in the US. The insights that Latzer shares helps to explain why the four cities above have high crime rates. The high proportion of African Americans combines with the high poverty levels in the cities to create crime. Another issue that deserves special focus is the role that strained relations between the police and the African American community play in promoting crime. Historically, African Americans have clashed with law enforcement agencies (Embrick, 2015). This is still the case today. For example, police officers are known to target African Americans with extreme and in some cases, lethal force (Embrick, 2015). The poor treatment that the African American community has suffered has eroded its trust in the police. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that since they do not trust the police, African Americans are unlikely to approach police officers to report crimes and share information. The poor relations underscore the need for community policing. In addition to enabling the Detroit Police Department to prevent crime, community policing will also promote healing, unity and collaboration. In summary, race, poverty and poor relations with police officers appear to be the primary factors that fuel crime in Detroit. Community policing holds the potential to reverse the trend of increasing crime rates.
Appropriate Crime Prevention Strategy
The analysis conducted above has identified some of the issues which are responsible for the high crime rates in Detroit. The city grapples with high crime rates and has struggled to promote positive relations between the community and the police department. In light of the challenges that Detroit faces, community policing seems to be the most appropriate strategy for preventing crimes. Community policing has been shown to be an effective strategy for building trust and healthy relationships between the police and communities (Miller, Hess & Orthmann, 2017). This strategy is most ideal for Detroit because of the lack of public trust in the police. As the Detroit Police Department invests in community policing, it will be making giant strides in rebuilding trust and challenging the community to support its crime prevention initiatives. It is important to note that the applications of community policing go beyond building trust and prevent crime. As they join forces with communities, the police are also able to help the communities tackle other challenges (Miller, Hess & Orthmann, 2017). For example, community policing can be used to promote community health and address such issues as drug abuse. Therefore, the Detroit Police Department should move with speed and set up a robust community policing program.
Programs for Addressing Community Needs and Social Justice
The discussion above has established that community policing is the most appropriate crime prevention strategy for Detroit. However, there are other strategies which help to prevent crime while addressing the needs of communities. Disorder policing and group violence elimination are some of the programs that are being implemented in an effort to eradicate crime while securing the wellbeing of communities. Essentially, disorder policing is concerned with identifying and addressing the issues which allow crimes to occur. For example, police departments are focusing their efforts on youth who are at risk of substance abuse and criminal behavior. Group violence elimination mainly focuses on gangs. Through this strategy, police officers seek to eliminate gangs and the violent crime that their members perpetrate. In addition to helping to create safer communities, disorder policing and group violence elimination also go a long way in enhancing the delivery of social justice. Social justice is concerned with such issues as equality and the empowerment of vulnerable populations. In an earlier discussion it was pointed out that poverty is one of the challenges that Baltimore, Memphis, Milwaukee and Detroit face. Through the implementation of disorder policing and group violence elimination, police officers are able to ensure that the communities in these cities enjoy the same levels of safety and calm that other Americans experience. This way, the police officers help to ensure social justice and equality. Community policing is yet another strategy which facilitates social justice. Sylvester Lamin, Consoler Teboh and John Chamberlain authored an article in which they examine the role that community policing plays in enhancing social justice. They observe that as part of community policing, the police attend to victims of crime and deliver social services. As they do this, the police are essentially promoting the welfare of communities. Community policing is undoubtedly one of the most effective crime prevention strategies.
Effectiveness in Comparable Jurisdictions
Baltimore, Memphis and Milwaukee have been identified as among the cities which experience high crime levels as is the case with Detroit. In the following table, a summary of the effectiveness of the programs identified in the discussion above is offered.
| Baltimore | Milwaukee | Memphis | |
| Disorder Policing (Tackling Substance Abuse) | It is still too early to establish the effectiveness of the disorder policing initiative. The city’s police department has partnered with a nongovernmental organization to create a program through which it offers treatment to addicts instead of arresting them (Rentz, 2015). This initiative promises to reduce crime. | The police in Milwaukee have focused on areas that are known to have a drug problem. As a result of this initiative, the city has registered a significant decline in the rate of violent crime (Luthern, 2017). | The Memphis police established a DARE program through which it challenges young individuals to reject substance abuse (Rufener, 2016). This initiative has been effective as it has inspired the targeted individuals to focus on improving the city. |
| Group Violence Elimination | Gang violence remains a serious challenge for Baltimore police (Prendergast, 2015). This suggests that the programs that the police have established are not working. The police in this city largely rely on force to eliminate the threat that gangs pose. | Initially, the efforts to tackle gang violence and crime proved effective. However, as the police withdrew from gang-infested areas, the city witnessed a resurgence of violence (Luthern, 2017). | The promotion of Christian values and mentorship are some of the programs that the police in Memphis have set up in collaboration with community organizations (Gathen, 2016). These programs have yielded encouraging results as many young people are shunning criminal activity. |
Funding Strategy
Given the many benefits that it will be poised to enjoy, the Detroit Police Department is likely to fully implement community policing. However, there is a risk that this program may not be adopted. One of the factors which could discourage efforts to implement the program is inadequate funding. For community policing to be effected properly, it should be accompanied with a funding strategy. It is proposed that all levels of government should set aside funds to finance the community policing initiative. The Detroit city government, the state government of Michigan and the federal government should all make some contribution to the fund for the program. The funding from the various levels of government may not be adequate to fully meet the financial needs of the police department. To address any shortfall, it is recommended that the business community should become involved. When a city suffers high crime rates, businesses suffer. Therefore, to protect their financial and commercial interests, the Detroit business community should help to finance the community policing initiative.
Anticipated Outcomes
The benefits that community policing presents are as varied as they are numerous. A significant reduction in crime rates is among the benefits (Sozer & Merlo, 2012). As it implements community policing, the Detroit police department should expect to have to deal with fewer crimes. However, this benefit may not be realized in the short term. An improvement in its relationship with the public is another long term outcome that the community policing initiative promises to yield. Initially, the police department may face challenges in gaining the trust and cooperation of the public. However, after assuring the public that community policing is intended to create safer neighborhoods, the department will gain the full confidence of the community. One of the immediate and short term outcomes of the community policing initiative is an improved image. When it rolls out the program, the police department will be able to assure the public that its focus is on preventing crime. Community policing is a soft approach that communities are likely to embrace and fully support. Furthermore, through community policing, the police are able to lower citizens’ fear of crime (Tillyer, 2017). This initiative also enhances police satisfaction. These are some of the short term outcomes that community policing will deliver to the Detroit police department. Overall, upon the full implementation of community policing, Detroit will be set for a return of peace and safety.
Impacts of Program on Social Justice
The discussion above has examined some of the outcomes of community policing. In addition to the benefits identified above, community policing will also promote social justice. Through community policing, the police are able to provide victims of crime with social support services (Tillyer, 2017). In the event that they are unable to offer these services, the police can refer the victims to organizations that attend to the needs of victims. Allowing communities to experience calm and safety are other ways through which community policing delivers social justice. In the US, there are disparities as regards the experience of crime (Crutchfield et al., 2009). African Americans and other racial minorities face a greater threat of crime. The implementation of community policing helps to address the disparities and deliver security to all Americans, regardless of their racial identity.
Conclusion
Detroit has lost the glory that defined it in previous years. One of the factors to blame for the current state of this city is high crime. This city has consistently ranked as among the most dangerous in the US. The city is home to thousands of African Americans who endure safety risk and crime every day. The Detroit Police Department seems incapable of eradicating crime. The problem lies in the department’s failure to integrate community policing into its crime prevention approach. Community policing has worked in other jurisdictions. The department is encouraged to adopt community policing. As it does this, it should appeal to the various levels of government and the business community for support. Community policing will help the police department to fight crime and establish stronger ties with communities.
References
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