Basics Of Effective Community Policing Programs

By Brenda Thompson


Community policing is viewed as a security revolution. It has melted tension between police and communities and enabled them to keep neighborhoods orderly. However, one does not wake up one day and roll out a program. There are tenets that effective community policing programs must meet. These pillars have been under research and are ascertained to make the law enforcement easier.

Trust is the glue that enables police and ordinary people to work together. A person believes that his or her issue will be addressed once it is reported to the police. Police stop treating people with suspicion leading to altercations. People trust the police with information that would otherwise endanger their lives. Police also trust that the information passed to them by members of the public will be credible and help them maintain law and order.

Align the policies of your program with values of your community. Each neighborhood is unique. It values certain routines and levels of engagement. Officials should help officers understand local cultures and traditional values. Police should know issues to intervene and those that are solved locally. This knowledge helps them to understand a neighborhood better. However, these values should not violate national norms or be too extreme that they endanger the lives of other people.

Technology and its use are an integral part of any effective program in the current era. People are given the power to report incidences and call law enforcement whenever there is need. Police are also required to use body and dash cameras to enhance fidelity to facts. Videos are accepted as evidence or proof of incidences that happened. Once technology is used effectively, the speed and quality of response are enhanced.

Priority needs to be given to engagement with the people in the area. Engagement helps law enforcement officers to appear like ordinary members of the area. They will not be regarded as any superior or inferior. Police and other law enforcers also begin to see residents as part of their lives. This creates a great deal of cohesion and builds a society of shared values. The dignity of all members of this neighborhood will be preserved.

Peaceful co-existence between people and police is enhanced through intense training and awareness creation. The aim is to make people understand the role of police officers and police to be cognizant of expectations from citizens. Awareness of boundaries and the responsibilities that come with these boundaries helps to de-escalate issues since everyone is aware of his or her place.

The dignity and regard of policemen and other law enforcers must be preserved at all times. People and police officers must see institutions whenever these officers are in neighborhoods. The enforcers must also follow the code of conduct that guides the institutions they serve. Such relationships lead to mutual respect and helps in the avoidance of confrontations. Officers can be respectful to their seniors while still serving the populace in the deserved manner.

Community policing is supposed to solve localized problem. At the bottom of your program, you should have the issues that bother your neighborhood in mind. Understand the role of police and responsibility of citizenry. When both parties are engaged, it is easier to develop an effective program.




About the Author:



0 comentários:

Postar um comentário