Community Policing in Extremely Depressed Areas Essay

With such a broad volume of discretion apparently in nearly every aspect of police decision making what strengths does this level of discretion have? Police work and the work environment require the use of discretion. Decisions must be made very quickly, usually without time for input from another source. This is despite the fact that a bureaucratic structure exists for the department as a whole. Moreover, communities cannot agree on what constitutes criminal behavior or the level to which criminal behavior should be sanctioned or ignored. A prime example is that of the skid-rows areas. The approach taken by most police in dealing with the skid-row “problem” or

One important work which highlighted some of the shortcomings of officer discretion was a survey sponsored by the American Bar Foundation. Among other things that survey noted in the 1960’s a national crisis arose with certain problems relating to law enforcement. The survey noted that the possibility existed that discretionary decision making could represent a pattern of discrimination, it did say, on the other hand, the survey was unable to say definitively rather discrimination existed in

As define in “Criminology,” criminogenic environments are communities generally higher in neighborhoods with lower levels of social integration (71). Structural factors that include: age, gender and race are mostly related in communities where socio economic and class status are affected by. Low income neighborhoods contribute to individuals to be involve in crime. As described on our book scholars say that “kinds of places matter more than kinds of people” (134). This view refers to that the people do not cause crime but rather the place where individuals reside is the one causing the crime. The living situation in urban neighborhoods is a common association between teenagers and other adults to be exposed to crime. Some individuals who are not criminals and that are connected to this environment may be equally exposed to criminal behavior. The result to this is that in many urban areas, individuals are exposed to crime and criminal behavior in this communities.

First, the department in which the police officer works in can greatly impact how the police officer behaves and how they use their discretion. The structure and organizational characteristics (i.e. how closely they follow administrative policy, size) were found to be great influences on an officer (Nowacki, 2011). For example, if a police department abides by a more legalistic style, a style which limits an individual officer's use of discretion and gives a majority of the control to supervisors, then the officer in that department is more likely to abide exactly by the administrative rules of the law then an individual in another department. In contrast, if a police department is operating under the service model, officers are given more independence with their decision-making and use of discretion. Under this model, an officer is much more likely to grant leniencies, such as dismiss a speeding ticket. However, studies show a direct correlation between increased lethal force incidences and homicides by police if a department’s rules regarding administrative policy were more laissez-faire and if the size of the department was large (Nowacki, 2011).

The film “Crime in the Urban Chicago” is an accurate source of information because it transmits several of the concerns and struggles that the citizens residing in the area face daily. The setting of the film goes into Riverdale, Chicago; in which the Newton family provides an insight of what it means to reside in the suburbs. For this reason, the information of the documentary gains relevance, because they incorporate first person stories that accurately describe the current period of violence and crime in Chicago. Furthermore, the documentary describes considerable societal issues that evolve around a typical urban community. For example, the relative lack of employment and governmental services and facilities such as schools and educational

Detroit has been classified as one of America’s most violent cities with a high crime rate. Most of the residential neighborhoods are full of dilapidated buildings, mediocre shopping centers, burned down or vacant houses. Compared to the adjacent city, Dearborn where the crime rate is lower, there is no dilapidated building, there are no burnt down houses in any of the residential neighborhoods. Many Detroit residents often move to suburban cities like Dearborn to escape the decay of their neighborhoods. Moving to these well-kept neighborhoods insinuate the better the neighborhood the lessor of crime. This week articles closely examine the social and economic disparities in urban residential neighborhoods and correlate these disparities to crime and criminal activity. The articles for this week takes a look at Wilson and Keller’s Broken Windows research which argues that neighborhood with physical and

Neighborhoods where poverty and crime runs concurrent one thing is certain, policing is much needed but it must be done properly. (TCA Regional News Retrieved from 2015, May 31) Instead of money as an incentive for crime reduction more interactions with police officers in the community should be looked at. To improve any relationship a bond of communication and trust must be established. Crime enforcement must be exercised in all aspects we can't deny that it has particularly surged over the last millennium (Pendleton2000). Recognizing there is a problem is the first

Community policing changed the traditional definition of policing from crime control to community problem solving and empowerment. African Americans and Hispanics were stopped for longer periods and represented 80 percent of the cars that were searched following a stop. Discretionary law enforcement practices may result in a greater chance of African Americans receiving a prison sentence. Offenses by African American were more likely to lead to arrests than those of White Americans. Studies show that African Americans reported being less satisfied with the police than White Americans.

Community policing is an area that I am extremely passionate about due to first-hand experiences encountered over the years. Earning the community's trust and building relationships helps to facilitate relationships to reduce crime on the streets. Allows the community to see police officers are people and community members, just like them. Police officers just are upholding the letter of the law, providing increased safety for the community at large. Educating the community on how to prevent crimes in hopes they do not become a victim. Encouraging individuals in the community to help stop the cycle of violence and showing them a way to chose a different avenue for themselves. Working with inner-city youth, providing programs for them,

Jeffery, you discussed some excellent ideas to consider before implementing a Neighborhood Oriented Policing (NOP) program as discussed by Cronkhite (2013). NOP is much different than routine patrol policing. With the emphasis more on problem solving than the number of arrests made or citations issued, the success is measured by a lack of crime (Cronkhite, 2013). One battle that NOP faces is changing the attitudes of the agency. Most agencies have been driven by stats and measured and evaluated officers on the number of arrests and citations. The administrator must believe in the concepts and must make sure that the philosophy of the agency changes to accept the new style of policing. An agency cannot focus on the numbers if a community

The containment approach allows officers to use their discretion and choose to intervene very little during the progression of minor crimes such as loitering and public drunkenness as long as the perpetrators contain their actions to the specific “skid-row” area (Bittner, 1967). Where Brown (1981) considers this as a decision to ignore a violation, Bittner (1967) describes it as an alternative type of action. Bittner (1967) describes three classifications of peace keeping on skid-row. For containment to be considered successful an officer must first acquire specific knowledge about the inhabitants of the area (particularization of knowledge), must discern when it is best needed for an individual to be arrested to keep peace (restricted relevance of culpability), and focus more on the short term results than be concerned with long-term effects (background of ad hoc decision making) because the citizens of these areas have little to lose and therefore have no type of future to be effected long-term (Bittner, 1967). If officers simply enforced the law, it may result in displacement of the activity, as well as making the arrest/release of certain people a revolving door. By using the containment of these areas, and keeping peace in those areas, officers may not be enforcing the law, but are preventing the spread of illegal behavior.

Do Canadian police agencies implement community policing, and problem oriented policing? and if so do they work? In this paper, this paper will examine the two different styles of policing in a contemporary society. Community policing where the main emphasis is that the police and the community work together on issues, and problem-oriented policing where the police try and understand specific issues within the community. It will also examine several examples of different policing agencies in Canada, and what they implement for community policing, and problem oriented policing programs, and most importantly are they community policing, or problem oriented? Like many thing in life there are always critics of different ideas, so it will also examine the criticism on both of these policing styles.

Community policing styles in “broken window” areas has become essential over the past decade. Broken window areas, are not just a bunch of houses with shattered windows. In criminal justice terms, an area that has broken windows is an area that has generally lost social control and has become a dangerous area to live. Many of these broken window areas generally lack social order, have high crime rates, and crime starts going unpunished and unnoticed. So how do police departments fix high crime rates in these areas? What styles of policing are most efficient in deterring crime? Some officers of the law believe that foot patrol policing is the best style of policing, while others believe that patrol cars are the answer to prevent crime in these areas. Police departments and officers alike; have come up with multiple strategies to deter and prevent crime, and with a new era of technology, police departments have new resources and strategies at there disposal.

I grew up in South Pomona; CA. Poverty is the social norm. Popular streets like Garey Avenue and Mission Boulevard are our very own skid row with tents lining sidewalks. Homeless people reside in parks while gangsters tag buildings with graffiti or sell drugs out in the open. When we visit these public places, we take precaution in order to avoid assaults.

Many citizens have become annoyed with the crime in their neighborhoods. They have organized block watches, citizen patrols, along with neighborhood cleanups, and started harassing slumlords that allow drug dealers to use their properties. (Brown Art. 122). Among many of the crime fighting tools, the involvement of