Community-Oriented Policing and Problem-Oriented Policing
Community oriented policing is a process where the police officers collaborate with the citizens using agreed problem-solving techniques to reduce fear and maintain order in the community. The main objective of community policing is to ensure that the police and the community work together in fighting crime, identifying the community concerns, and providing solutions. The community is involved not only in fighting crime but also in providing the solutions to these problems. It is a way for the police and the community to work together and understand each other. Community oriented policing runs through all the levels of the police department. Officers have found more ways of showing community policing, especially with the advent of information communications and technology. Many police departments have websites where they list their activities and operations. Members of the public can visit such websites and check the progress of the police. They also have a chance to ask questions and report information on the websites (Dempsey & Forst, 2011)
There are several benefits of implementing the approach of community oriented policing. Community oriented policing addresses the real problems facing the community. When the police interact with the community, they are able to understand their concerns better, since these problems also affect them. In most cases, people have various misconceptions concerning police officers. In other cases, the police can have stereotypes, or they can be prejudiced towards a group of people. When the people work together with the police, it gives them a chance to interact, and they are able to understand each other better. Another benefit of community policing is that the community feels that the police are more accessible, and this enhances the relationship between them. The police officers feel that they are a part of the community
Many people have often complained of police behavior. Community policing intends to provide the police with the guidance and direction they need to ensure that their actions and is in line with people’s expectations. It increases police discretion at all levels. It also increases the effectiveness of the police force. The leaders no longer need to tell the police officers what to do at all time. This approach encourages the officers to think critically about the situations they are facing (Dempsey & Forst, 2011). This kind of policing promotes a sense of empowerment in the people and in the police force. Empowerment is one of the key factors for effective law enforcement.
One of the weaknesses of community oriented policing is reluctance of community to engage in the decision making problems. This approach encourages the community to participate in finding solutions to deal with crime. Another weakness is that the police and the community may end up using a lot of time in solving some of the crimes. They may not agree on the proposed solution, and this can be a major problem for the two groups. The community may feel that the police are enforcing a decision in them, thus although they are involved in the process, they are mostly passive and their decisions are not implemented (Dempsey & Forst, 2011). Some police officers do not support the ideal community oriented policing. They may feel that they are not doing real police work by involving the community in their decisions.
Problem oriented policing refers to a policing approach that encourages every member in a police agency to become active in solving problems (Palmiotto, 2011). This approach encourages the police to not only deal with incidents, but also to focus more on the problems causing these incidents. It asserts the importance of breaking down the broad police roles and applying specific strategies to the new roles (Dempsey & Forst, 2011). It enhances police accountability to the community, and it focuses on dealing with the issues and concerns affecting the community. The officers have to identify and examine the problems, and find ways of addressing these problems by developing a response. It involves four processes, which are scanning, analysis, response, and assessment, often identified as SARA. The scanning process involves identifying the problems that often recur, and identifying the consequences of these problems to the community and the police, prioritizing the problems, developing goals, and selecting the problems require closer examination. The analysis process involves understanding the conditions that accompany the problem, identifying the relevant data, researching information concerning the problem, and taking note of how the relevant authorities are addressing the problem. The response process includes coming up with new interventions, looking at how the communities faced with similar problems solved them, choosing the interventions to implement, determining the response plan to use, and the responsible parties, and carrying out the planned activities. the assessment process includes conducting a process evaluation, collecting the qualitative and quantitative data before and after the response process, verifying the attainment of the goals identified in the scanning process, determining the necessity of new strategies, and conducting assessment to ensure that the policy is effective (Samaha, 2005).
There are several benefits of using problem oriented policing. The police officers can use this approach to solve most of the problems they encounter. It helps them to identify the essential cause of the problem, and the best strategies to deal with these problems (Dempsey & Forst, 2011). This approach recognizes that each problem requires a different response though they may be similar in nature. This approach helps the law enforcers to deal with recurring problems. By identifying the real problems, the police are able to avoid recurring incidences. The approach encourages the police to use new initiatives to deal with the problems. The approach recognizes different ways of solving problems. The police can solve problems by eliminating them, such that there are no more incidents occurring because of this problem. The police can solve some of the problems by reducing the number of incidents that the problem creates. They can also solve a problem by reducing the seriousness of the incidents, thus ensuring that the incidents are less harmful. Officers can solve a problem by designing better methods for handling the incidents once they occur. They can solve a problem by removing it from police considerations (Palmiotto, 2011)
Problem oriented policing encourages, and often depends on the use of innovative methods to solve the existing problems. This can be challenging to the police officers involved, since they may not be able to develop new effective methods. The police can take a long time before coming up with a solution for the problems. The police need to determine how the incidents relate to each other, before identifying the real cause of these incidences. This can often take a long time, and the community might feel that the officers are not doing their job well. a police agency might not have the right personnel to deal with cases, using the problem oriented approach. This approach often requires officers with analytical and problem solving skills, and finding enough officers can be a challenge.
Community oriented policing and problem oriented policing have some similarities. They both involve the communities in identifying and solving problems. They are both a shift from the traditional approach of policing, where the officers from the highest levels made all the major decisions (Samaha, 2005). The main difference between community oriented and problem oriented community policing is that community oriented policing involves the full involvement of the community in fighting crime and ensuring security (Palmiotto, 2011). Officers using problem oriented policing collaborate with the community depending on the problem they are trying to solve. Developing a relationship with the community is important, and geographic decentralization is therefore important. Although community collaboration is important in problem oriented policing, it is not usually a necessity, and police officers can change communities. The two approaches focus on different things. Community oriented policing focuses on developing a working relationship with the community, whereas problem oriented policing focuses on identifying and solving community problems. In problem oriented policing, the officers maintain their authority in the decision making process although they may share the problems with the community. In community oriented policing, the officers often share the decision-making authority with the community. The two approaches differ in the type of skills required. Problem oriented policing puts more emphasis on intellectual and analytical skills, whereas community oriented policing places more emphasis on interpersonal skills (Samaha, 2005)
Although community and problem oriented policies offer several benefits to the community, the police often face several challenges when trying to implement these approaches. Community oriented policing requires heavy involvement from member of the community. As some police officers find out, the community may be reluctant to participate in the meetings and forums, and this affects the decision making process. Both approaches require the cooperation of police officers and the community. Some police officers do not support these approaches, and they prefer the professional model. Some claim that the management style used in these do not emphasize problem solving. Some officers believe that the community will appreciate and will have a positive image of a police force that is more rigid. Some people oppose policing because they are confused about it, and they do not understand the type of service they should receive from the police. Some police officers oppose the two approaches of policing because they do not offer quick rewards. They find that they get more rewards when they are able to alleviate the problem by meeting the immediate needs more quickly, other than trying to solve them by examining the problems.
References:
Dempsey, S. J., & Forst, S. L. (2011). An introduction to policing. New York, NY: Cengage Learning
Palmiotto, M. (2011). Community policing: A police citizen partnership. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis
Samaha, J. (2005). Criminal justice. New York, NY: Cengage Learning
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