Conflicts arising between the police and citizens have hit national and global media headlines.
Police-citizen violence is a severe problem, and several independent researchers have found out that the minority groups are always disproportionately victims of the deadly police force.
A police force and the community it is supposed to serve must have a consensus on the values that guide that law enforcement force.
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Thesis Statement: Community policing is vital towards changing the current police-community tensions through recruiting officers with specific traits and qualities that enable police departments in establishing traditional reform-era subcultures.
Body Paragraph 1: Galliher (1971) states that social scientists have over the years studied why the law enforcement officials behave the way they do while carrying out their obligations and they include;
The personality of an individual police officer represented by the psychological perspective is an essential determinant of how one will perform the duties.
Police have been relying on the current situation’s characteristics in making their duty-based decisions.
The police believe that maintaining order requires one to ignore the suspect’s constitutional rights and thus work outside the rule of law.
The police subculture justifies the use of force and violence while maintaining order.
The behavior found in each police department will also determine their behavior
The reflection of a particular community’s values also determines police behavior.
The nature of the police work is another factor that social scientists have not studied which is bound to determine police behavior.
Body Paragraph 2: Community policing can act as a countervailing force against the increased police-community tensions through recruiting officers with specific traits and qualities that enable police departments in establishing traditional reform-era subcultures.
Community policing includes three main components that characterize many programs, problem solving, community consultation and involvement and decentralization (Waldeck, 1999).
Community policing shall help in improving police legitimacy and increase community satisfaction.
However, community policing should not just focus on changing police functions but rather subcultures (Waldeck, 1999).
Conclusion
Over the years, police-community tensions have hit national headlines.
Various factors that determine police behavior; psychological perspective, demands of the current situation, role conflict, subcultural approach, departmental characteristics, societies and communities norms, and nature of police work.
However, community policing is critical towards changing the current police-citizen tensions.
References
Galliher, J. F. (1971). Explanations of police behavior: A critical review and analysis. The Sociological Quarterly, 12 (3), 308-318.
Waldeck, S. (1999). Cops, community policing, and the social norms approach to crime control: Should one make us more comfortable with the others? Georgia Law Review, 34 , 1253-1288.
