POLICING IN A CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
Policing entails maintenance of law and order by the police officers or force. Policing strategies have been changing concerning changes occurring in the communities, to ensure that optimal safety has been obtained. Some of the policing strategies that proved to be effective in the past can hardly fit in modern society, hence the need for adopting contemporary policing strategies. Past strategies were based on the fact that the mere presence of the police and the ways in which they reacted to criminal activities were effective on deterring crimes. Such an assumption cannot hold in current society, and new policing strategies have emerged. In this paper, I will focus on specifically problem-oriented policing and community policing, as examples of policing strategies in contemporary society.
Community Policing
Community policing is a strategy that aims at maintaining a safe and secure environment for all individuals by recognizing the importance of interdependence between police officers and members of the community. Through this policing strategy, an active and equal partnership between the community members and the police force is encouraged. The partnership plays a crucial role in discoing the safety issues facing the community, looking for possible solutions, and implementing them.
There are main ways in which community policing prevents the occurrence of crime. First, it makes sure that both the police officers and the public have got extensive knowledge of their role in matters about security. Constructive participation towards crime reduction is achieved by educating and building the capacity of the members of the public and police force to work together. Each party is encouraged to play its role in optimal. Secondly, the police force is strengthened through the provision of private guards. The number of police officers is minimal when compared to the citizens to be protected, hence need of additional forces. The private guards have got wide knowledge and mastery of their societies, and therefore, they help the police officers in carrying out patrols.
The most significant role played by the members of the public under community policing is the provision of information. The policing strategy is based on the idea that criminals or individuals with bad intentions live among the people, and therefore, the members of the public are in the best position of providing information on such characters. Police officers are not in the best position of acquiring such information, as criminals tend to fear them, hence keeping a distance from them. Members of the community are required to provide information on suspicious characters, develop a better understanding of the individuals living around them, and voluntary offer any support required by the police force in the process of executing policing operations. However, the individuals are required to act as per law, and not take law in their own hands (Schanzer et al., 2016).
To make the process effective, the police force is required to communicate effectively with the members of the society and listen to them to understand what they want. The officers are advised to establish a good working relationship with community members by respecting their views & complaints, ensuring accountability, transparency, and effectiveness in their duties (Jenkins, 2016). Taking an example of the United States, community police have proved to be effective in deterring crimes, since its implementation in the year 1994. The policing strategy was implemented following passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994) and was highly endorsed by Clinton, who was the sitting president of the US by then. Since then, community policing has made the work of police force easy, as they don’t struggle much in searching for criminals and collecting information to facilitate their persecution. Policing has improved.
Problem-Oriented Policing
Problem-oriented policing (POP) has got its roots from Herman Goldstein (1979), who saw the need of advancing the policing strategies with more proactive approaches, instead of relying on the reactive and incident-driven approaches (Eck & Spelman, 2016). Since then, the POP model has been developing with time, incorporating proactive actions based on societal changes. Various methods are used in the process of implementing pop.
The most common method is termed as the SARA Model and is highly used by law enforcement agencies across the US. The model incorporates Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment. In the first step of Scanning, the police officers focus on identifying problems among the members of the community and confirming their existence. Besides, they evaluate the consequences associated with the issues and their frequency of occurrence. The second step is Analysis and entails analyzing the available data to learn more about the identified problems. Focus is on the causes of the problems and effective response actions that can be taken. The next step is the response. In this step, results obtained from the analysis are used, and the most appropriate response is selected. The response is selected concerning the objectives to be achieved. Upon selection, the response is directed towards achieving the desired goals. Lastly, we have the Assessment step, which evaluates whether the selected strategies were implemented in accordance with the established plan, and the obtained results.
Despite the many methods available under the problem-oriented policing, the idea is focusing on the areas facing problems such as repetitive offenders, victims, times, and geographical areas of such incidences. Narrowly defined problems are the main target, and a wide range of responses is adopted to reduce the incidence as well as the severity of the problem.
An example of a problem-based policing would be the fight against prostitution, which is a problem facing many nations globally. Application of traditional approaches in solving this problem would be arresting, chasing them from the streets, fines, and sentencing. A problem-based policing will not take such an approach but will focus on identifying why the key keep on occurring. Upon identifying the problem root, the cause will establish a basis for solving the issue. For instance, prostitution is highly facilitated by cases like drugs & substance abuse, lack of employment opportunities (poverty), and lack of morals. Addressing such issue effectively would demand control of drugs and substance usage, creating employment opportunities, and teaching people on the side effects of prostitution to their bodies and moral characters respectfully. POP has got the benefit of providing an everlasting solution to community problems (Eck & Gallagher, 2016).
In conclusion, desperate situations call for desperate actions. In this 21st century, traditional policing strategies have proved to be effective, given that they do not effectively address the objectives of deterring crimes. The focus should be on embracing strategies that will result in everlasting problems to the problems faced by the community. The process should start by identifying the problems, analyzing them, determining possible solutions, and partnering with stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the identified strategies. Besides, each irrespective of the status within the community have a role to play in policing. Community policing and POP are some of the best contemporary policing strategies that have proved to be effective in this modern world.
References
Eck, J. E., & Gallagher, K. (2016). Problem-oriented policing: Evidence v. framing in implementation success. In Advancing Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy (pp. 155-164). Routledge.
Eck, J., & Spelman, W. (2016). Problem-oriented policing. Washington, DC.
Jenkins, M. J. (2016). Police support for community problem-solving and broken windows policing. American journal of criminal justice, 41(2), 220-235.
Schanzer, D. H., Kurzman, C., Toliver, J., & Miller, E. (2016). The challenge and promise of using community policing strategies to prevent violent extremism: A call for community partnerships with law enforcement to enhance public safety. Durham: Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security.