Introduction
Communities all around the world face a variety of challenges, including environmental, political, economic, and security issues. It’s crucial for each community to identify these problems and establish objectives to address them. Additionally, it’s important for communities to involve all stakeholders in problem-solving efforts to minimize conflicts of interest. By doing so, every member of society will feel like they have a role in finding solutions. Communities should strive to adopt the best strategies for tackling each issue they face. In today’s diverse world with many differences among people, it’s wise to seek common ground without fearing disagreement when dealing with problem-solving at the community level. This approach ensures that problems are solved effectively and democratically (Braga, 2001).
Community policing and integration with the federal government are important aspects of law enforcement.
Community policing is a major tool used in several countries to solve community problems, particularly those related to crime and security issues. It has proven to be very effective in curbing crime and restoring law and order. Essentially, community policing is a mode of policing where the police work together with the society in their role of maintaining law and order. Community policing recognizes the shared responsibility between the police force and the community while also acknowledging the independence of the police force. Its goal is to ensure a secure and safe environment for every member of society.
Through this mode of policing, an equal and active partnership between the police and community is established, developed, and maintained. It has proven efficient in addressing public safety concerns since it provides a forum for discussing safety issues jointly with solutions identified collaboratively then implemented (Farlex, 2009).
Community-oriented policing extends police power to cover all aspects of a community, making the police influence pervasive. This policing strategy views police officers as an extension of the larger community. Its aim is to restore informal controls that encourage individuals to police themselves and ensure that people in society become disciplined by following morals and virtues important to the community. The community-oriented approach is considered effective because it unites society and the police, with both working together as a team to ensure civilization in a community and guarantee safety for everyone. One major advantage of this approach is that it helps bridge the gap between the police and communities (Farlex, 2009).
Another major advantage of community policing is that it helps create bonds between society and the police. These bonds are based on trust, which is an essential tool in fighting crime. Traditional policing approaches lacked a connection between police and communities, making it difficult for police to gather information about crime. By integrating police into the community, they can carry out their duties more effectively by providing security. Additionally, the society becomes more cooperative in fighting crime, reducing criminal activity while deterring future crimes.
In societies where community policing is practiced, people are usually afraid to commit crimes because they know they may be caught easily since the police work together with individuals in society. This acts as an effective tool for crime deterrence and reduction (Farlex, 2009).
Police officers are not only concerned with fighting crime but also with improving the quality of life in the communities where they work. They can obtain funds from major businesses and government departments to aid these communities. By employing a community-oriented policing approach, officers can ensure that the economic status of society, especially youth, is improved. This approach also allows officers to identify vital resources for community growth and discover other resources that could enhance living standards (Farlex, 2009).
In the past, policing has been very traditional, repressive, and reactive. It mainly focused on the priorities of federal authorities. However, with rising cases of crime, it has become more important for federal authorities to involve communities in order to achieve their goals. This has led to a shift in law enforcement agencies towards establishing external partnerships, involving citizens in problem-solving and transforming organizations. The adoption of this approach by federal agencies has served as a solid foundation for achieving their major objective: maintaining law and order.
For community policing to be effective, it should also include interagency and intergovernmental collaborations with federal agencies and states. These collaborations play a vital role in collecting and exchanging intelligence information, identifying vulnerabilities and threats while also aiding mobilization and resource sharing when needed (Philippaerts & Phahlane 1997).
Problem-solving policing
The problem-solving policing approach involves identifying certain crimes and other disorderly problems to help police formulate responsive strategies. Unlike community policing, this approach emphasizes research and analysis to prevent crime. It involves both private and public organizations in solving community problems, which can be confused with the community-oriented approach. While analyzing crime incidents, this approach looks for similarities between occurrences that may concern both the police force and communities. In contrast to traditional policing approaches where similar incidents were treated individually, problem-oriented policing aims to identify the root cause of such incidences, helping root out criminal activities in a community. This is one of the major advantages of this policing approach.
Furthermore, this approach works together with affected communities in identifying problems and formulating solutions. As such, it is efficient not only in ensuring criminals are convicted but also eliminating possibilities of repeated crimes. The problem-solving policing approach efficiently roots out crime in a community (Braga, 2001).
Problem-oriented policing typically involves the police and communities collaborating to identify and formulate alternatives to combat specific recurring crimes in a community. This fosters cooperation and trust between the police and society, which is crucial in fighting crime (Goldstein, n.d.).
Conclusion.
Despite their differences, community-oriented policing, problem-solving policing, and the federal government’s integration into community policing approaches aim to reduce crime through cooperation with communities. The only difference is the level of influence on communities and the intensity of interaction between police and communities. Although community-based policing seems advantageous and ideal, it is more costly and complicated than the problem-oriented approach. The latter is more practical and achievable than the other two approaches, making it more applicable.
Reference:
Braga, A. A. et al (2001): Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston’s Operation Ceasefire.” Retrieved on April 14th, 2009 from https://graduateway.com/essay-examples/youth-violence/.
Farlex, Inc. (2009) published an article about community-oriented policing, which is a blend of strategies. The article can be accessed at the following link: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/community-oriented+policing. The article was retrieved on April 14th, 2009.
Community-oriented policing: a blend of strategies
Goldstein, H. (n.d.): Improving Policing: A Problem-Oriented Approach. Retrieved on April 14th, 2009 from [insert URL here].
http://cad.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/2/236?ck=nck
Philippaerts, J. and Phahlane, J. (1997) implemented community policing in the Belgian Federal Police and the South African Police Service.
Retrieved on April 14th from:
Here is a link to an article on implementing community policing in business: http://www.cpsb.com/research/communique/creative-problem-solving-business/implementing-community-policing.pdf.
