Thursday, April 23, 2015
Community Policing
1. What are the merits of community policing not discussed in the video?
2. In your experience/opinion, does this seem like an appropriate response for departments to take?
3. Discuss not only where the distrust in police officers comes from, but how police officers become distrustful of their community (what leads officers to act in the way we have seen them acting recently?)
4. What other steps should departments as well as city governments be taking in line with community policing?
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At this point I would support almost anything to help the gap between the police and civilians. But I think this method would work especially well if implemented.
ReplyDeleteRight now, the recent shootings and brutality cases has caused to sides to emerge: the police, and the public. For the sake of my writing, I'll identify as a third group that isn't involved in the protests and fights, but a third-party trying to solve the problem.
Each group yells at the other for being the problem, and it makes both an antagonist to the situation. "Community policing" breaches the gap by forcing the two groups to interact with each other, and is non-violent, cost-effective, and generally amiable method to keeping the gap closed.
Distrust comes from cops shooting people, and people shooting cops. You can't have two sides that are supposed to work together doubting the character of the individuals in their partner groups.
Identify and admit that there is a problem. No more denial; no more complacency with problematic officers in the departments.
I think that community policing is able to give police officers a chance to rise above the stigma that is now associated with them after all of the incidents that have been taking place. Getting out of the car and talking to the community lets people get a better sense of who is protecting them and what their intentions are. In my town i was common for police officers to take this route and they were very involved with the community throughout many different avenues. It really helped to encourage people to not be afraid of the police rather they had a relationship with them and were able to have conversations about what they needed or would like to see. Granted they didn't reach everyone they did a lot to keep kids out of trouble and help the other members of the community feel safer and that their concerns were being addressed. I think that in light of all the things that have happened lately, people are afraid that their police force is going to take these extreme measures and fall into the stereotype that has been laid out. On the other side there are the people who have said that they distrust the police and are going to take matters into their own hands. I think that this has brought a new unknown to the table, not knowing who is going to take what measures and to what extent they are willing to go. I still believe that there is still a level of trust, people are just scared of the unknown. I think that other governments need to take into account that if the police are getting the community to trust them more with this approach then they can get the support of the people if they listen to their concerns and make the changes they want to see. If there was this much communication within all departments there would be less violence and misunderstandings.
ReplyDeleteI believe that community policing is an effective way of releasing police officers from the binds of negative public perception that have constrained them over the past decade especially. It also allows members of the community to feel incorporated in the safekeeping of their own society; they will no longer be able to see the police as a threatening "other" if civilians are cooperating hand-in-hand with them to facilitate peace in neighborhoods. Police officers will also interact personally with the people they serve, leading to a stronger bond that will result in greater mutual respect. This method builds trust and leads to mutual understanding between civilians and police, and should be implemented elsewhere to prevent the growing partisanship that we see today between the people and the enforcers of the law.
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