The Basics behind Effective Police Operations
Changes in the Police Operations
Various changes have affected police operations. First is the standard community involvement in the law enforcement practice. Community-based proactive practices usually recognize and promote active communities’ role in crime prevention. In this case, the involvement defines the relationship between the police and the community in ways that reduce criminal activities. According to Zhang & Brown (2013), unlike other proactive policing approaches, police have always employed community-based strategies with the hope of increasing positive perceptions of the community towards the police and enhance corporation. This change in practice has led to changes in police mission and vision such that the community is now more involved in finding solutions to the persisting crimes within society. The second change within the police operations is the involvement of technology, which is mostly used for communication and to combat crime. To keep the public safe, it is prudent for law enforcement agencies to employ cutting edge technologies that include the use of tracking systems and crime identification technology. In the US, the police departments in various states such as the New York Police Department (NYPD) for the collection and storage of big data as well as in the detection and monitoring of crime.
Lines of Communications
The police have various communication lines and tools that range from face-to-face conversations within the department and with the external environment with the aid of sophisticated and straightforward methods of reaching out to a large portion of the audience in the shortest time possible. The lines of communication in the police are divided into the traditional tools and the contemporary lines of communication, of which the conventional means seen to be used more in the local law enforcement agencies that the modern styles (Stephens & Hill, 2011). Some of the traditional lines of communication within the police service include using the news media, which has served as the primary mode of communication for many years where important communication is made, and it reaches out to a broader audience. On the other hand, some of the modern communication lines include sophisticated technologies that are social and more prompt than the traditional methods. Such methods include the use of social media platforms, phone and radio calls, and police websites. Nevertheless, the conventional techniques are widely used in the local areas by the law enforcers.
Challenges with Police Communication
There are various challenges that law enforcement might encounter with their communication. First is the challenge of crime, whereby it has been used as a useful measure of police effectiveness. Crime emphasized, although the police spend most of their time dealing with issues related to crime. For instance, an increase in crime within a given locality will portray the police as not doing their work. In the real sense, the police spend most of their time combating crime but do not communicate to the public appropriately about what they are doing (Stephens & Hill, 2011). Since the police are a multifaceted enterprise that handles many operations at the same time, using crime to measure its success presents a problem in itself. Hence, the mitigation for the issue is for the police to always update the public about their operations in combating crime as a way of reducing the adverse perception. The second challenge is police effectiveness such that the skills and ability of the police to communicate appropriately with the community and the public at large may be a hindrance to communication. To mitigate the issue, the police should undergo refresher courses that would boost their communication and interrelation skills.
Police Patrol in Modern Policing
Police patrols play a significant role in the public service as they help in responding to incidents as well as prevent crimes from happening. Police patrols give a sense of security to the residents of a given locality who need protection and, at the same time, discourage those who may want to commit crime from engaging in the same. According to Lewandowski (2015), police patrolling is an indispensable practice of the police department. Its goal is to prevent crime, apprehend criminals, enforce the law, and ensure law and order. However, police patrols are usually limited to resources, especially in states with weak economies; hence, the patrol strategies in such areas become minimal. A typical police patrol in the US utilizes a demarcation strategy where a city or a town divided into sections with each having a command center with a commanding officer. The authoritative centers and sectors are further divided into beats or areas where the police can manage to move around and respond to events promptly. There are three main types of patrol strategies utilized in the US, and they include directed, active, and random patrols depending on the security threat and circumstances.
Quality of Life Issues
Within society, there are several qualities of life issues that affect the people and specifically law enforcement operations. First, prostitution is a rampant issue within the community, especially in rural and low-level localities. In 2010, the legal aid society in the US represented thousands of individuals charged with prostitution in Ney York city where prostitution is illegal (Lewandowski, 2015). The state of New York groups prostitution together with sex trafficking where someone benefits from prostitution through threats, withholding of documents, or facilitated drug usage. Although not all prostitution practices mean smuggling, the practice is at high risk of criminal activities such as abductions and human trafficking, hence the police’s involvement. The best practice to mitigate the issue is the issuance of brothel licenses, of which most of the states offer or banning the practice altogether. Another quality of life issue is homelessness, which has not changed for a long time and seems to become worse as days go by. However, there has been a change in how the police view the homeless as they have moved from apprehending them to performing corporate social responsibility initiatives such as giving them food and clothing from time to time.
Police Reactions Relating to Violence in Schools, Homes, and Workplaces
Police usually react differently to violence in schools, homes, and the workplace. First, most of the school violence that involves the police include active shooter incidents, violent5 protests, undermining of the school’s confidence, or other threats to the security of not only the people within the school but also to the residents who live around the vicinity of the school. In this regard, school-based policing has been considered as the fasted way of law enforcement in schools. For example, the massacre at Douglas school in Florida has made the school’s administration resource officers within the school (Lewandowski, 2015). On the other hand, workplace violence has also become prominent with crimes such as robbery, trespassing, or customer and client fraud. Unlike school crimes, workplace violence is usually responded to fast by community service programs. Lastly, home violence, like workplace violence, involves acts such as robbery or domestic violence of which the community policing protocols are followed to apprehend the perpetrators. Nevertheless, the three areas that include schools, homes, and workplaces have different ways of which the police react to the violence.