Community Policing
Community policing can get defined as a philosophy that focuses on promoting strategies that support the utilization of problem-solving and partnership techniques to proactively address matters that result in public safety issues like social disorder, fear of crime as well as crime (Cordner 149). Community policing concept in the U.S can be traced back to the 19 century.
The prime reason for its inception was to involve the police in the building of strong relationships with the communities. The earliest tactics of community policing involved foot patrols where law enforcement officers could patrol the neighborhoods they serve. However, in the current time departments are incorporating community engagement systems and the social media to engage the public (Cordner 152). In fact, it has been a prime strategy in the cities in combating drugs, violence as well as criminal activities.
Centerville Police Department
The Centerville Police Department in the Southeastern U.S is one of the law enforcement agencies that greatly applies community policing models. This police department most employs the community building policing approach (Gill et al. 416). Notably, the department requires its community policing officers to be in the streets in most of their times when on duty. They get mandated to communicate with residents, patrol business districts and neighborhoods as well as conduct other policing activities.
Further, the department also prints notices that offer information concerning crime control problems and distributes them to the citizens. Through direct communication with the residents, the officers can obtain valuable information, either from their observations or citizen input, about particular offenses, crime conditions as well as crime suspects. The neighborhood-based information is then used to conduct follow-up investigations and the arrest of perpetrators (Gill et al. 419). This way, the Centerville police department ensures law and order is maintained among the residents.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the analyses of community policing remain a critical idea due to a variety of reasons. It is an excellent crime deterrent strategy as the presence of law enforcement officers together with the vigilance of the community reduces the likelihood of criminals to attempt break-ins and other criminal acts (Cordner 169). Also, it educates the community on their role regarding reporting and crime prevention. All these make neighborhoods crime-free and comfortable for human residence.
Works cited
Cordner, Gary. "Community policing." The Oxford handbook of police and policing (2014): 148-171.
Gill, Charlotte, et al. "Community-oriented policing to reduce crime, disorder, and fear and increase satisfaction and legitimacy among citizens: A systematic review." Journal of Experimental Criminology 10.4 (2014): 399-428.
