Friday, January 4, 2019

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.

The program should enhance trust between police and the community. Law enforcement agencies should trust in the words of the citizens and allow them deal with some of the issues. People should also trust that the engagement and information they give to police officers will enhance security and well-being in their neighborhood. In the absence of trust, there will be tussles with law enforces and people will fail to report crimes of confrontations.

The community should engrave localized routines and values in their program. This is why such a program is formed to address local issues. There are routines and cultures that are specific to people of a certain area. While they might be regarded as unacceptable in other areas, police need to know that this is your tradition. However, these issues and values must be aligned to national values. It ensures that there is no conflict during law enforcement.

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.

Engagement between police and people in a neighborhood is inevitable if law and order are to be maintained. Continued engagement diffuses tension because the two entities are not strangers to each other when an incident occurs. Police will not be regarded as masters and neither will people be viewed as subjects. Continued engagement creates mutual understanding of the role of each individual in the society. It restores dignity and mutual respect.

Training and awareness creation should be a priority. People need to understand the role of police, their procedures and areas where they will have to intervene. Police in return need to be conscious of rights of citizens and responsibilities of law enforcers over the neighborhoods they serve. Such training simplifies problem solving and makes it easier to de-escalate issues since each party is aware of the place of the other.

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.




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