With the advent of community policing, certain concerns have been expressed as to potential ethical dilemmas that community-oriented police officers may experience as a result of their having greater

Ashlee Williams

May 26, 2024

Individual Project 4

Colorado Technical University

Community Policing Transition Challenges

In your meeting, how will you respond concerning whether community policing is the panacea for the city’s problems?

In our meeting, I would limit their misunderstandings to say: While on the one hand, they are accurate that community policing will not solve all the problems that is impacting the city, however, I would state that it is well-known strategy that has created a remarkable outcome in most places. Scholarly proof establishes truth that community policing can promote police credibility, prevent, and control criminal activity, and raise the standard of living of people (Kappeler et al., 2020).

This means that by working as a team along with the support of the police department and the community, we can be able to be part of the problem-solving process. Moreover, the effectiveness is forming a larger group of people upon proper application and sustainable use, as well as the maximum containment to include specific elements into the relevant local environment. Consequently, I love the idea assumption and believe that it can help city advance if anyone is interested in providing feedback and execute it (Kappeler et al., 2020).

Since the police department has been operating with a traditional law enforcement mentality for more than 30 years, do you envision any problems with officers and supervisors within your department moving toward a community policing and problem-solving approach to performing their assigned duties? If so, how will you handle their concerns?

Of course, there will be some refusal from officers and supervisors who have worked in traditional law enforcement for over 30 years. That’s expected. Some of the concerns may be doubting the effectiveness of community policing, fear of change, and new assignments. To take care of these concerns, the following change management plan of action will be utilized (Kappeler et al., 2020).

This involves extreme training sessions that aim at the community’s policing’s accomplishments, meetings where the officers can provide feedback and ideas, and a tutoring program in which the veteran officer is in a place to assist with the rest. It is likely to uproot the way of the department for improvement and make everyone ready to accept the ideals of community policing as the new standard (Kappeler et al., 2020).

Using specific elements of the police organizational structure, where does it appear that you would need to reorganize the department, especially to accommodate this change in policing philosophy? Explain.

These changes would remake the police department by creating a certain type of community-centered police squad and appointing more authority towards lower ranks. These units would focus on the creation of rapport with members of the community and the management issues surrounding the community (Skogan & Hartnett, 2019).

Additionally, I would include neighborhood problem-solving teams to offer the most suitable resolutions for the area. Honest communication is needed for the units to be included in the current structure. Support by upper management is also needed. By decentralizing the authority, we give permission to the officers to act accordingly and quickly when it comes to issues in the community. These changes will increase agility, adaptability, and accessibility of the department to the public (Skogan & Hartnett, 2019).

Do you foresee a change in the officer’s workload because of the proposed changes? Would the workload be reduced or increased? Explain in detail.

In short, officers will be expected to offer more time and effort to accomplish the goals of community inclusion and problem-solving. When officers are familiar with their community they serve and have their support, they will spend most of their time towards prevention rather than reacting. This advancement may even out or even drop in the future. The level of confidence of the public and its teamwork will show a downfall in crime rates, making policing effective. When it comes to workload management and distribution, big data and predictive analytics technology will be embraced (Kappeler et al., 2020).

What types of information would you use to elevate the progress of your new policing initiative? (Identify, cite, and discuss the most recent research, as well as both pros and cons related to community policing and problem-solving techniques.)

The improvement of our new policing model, I would look at the outcomes of the most current studies on the benefits and limitations of community policing and problem-solvong strategies. The meta-analysis on the effect of community policing on crime deduction was done by Ekici (Ekici et al., 2022). It is said that community policing does not drastically decrease disorders, sales, or property crimes. It helps in decreasing crimes such as theft, gun activity, drug offenses, robbery, and fears of crimes. This means that community policing can be effective when it comes to decreasing specific kinds of crimes (Ekici et al., 2022).

Empirical data cited by Crowl (2017) stated that community policing can help ease their citizens’ fear of crime, increase police credibility, and increase job satisfaction within the police force. This would display positive social impacts because of community policing as a policing method. Nonetheless, there are some challenges and issues in the implementation of community policing that are recognized by Skogan and Harnett (2019).

Even though this method has been adopted by most of the larger agencies, it may not be a fit for other agencies for a specific reason. Furthermore, the actual implementation of the basic concepts of community policing may not be the same with one department as it is with another, which will cause disparate results. There are other views and discoveries that can be included in the programs to expand the successfulness of community policing and problem-solving and be more alert to succeed at any hurdles that may come in the way (Skogan & Harnett, 2019).

What is the importance of planning regarding crime prevention? Explain in detail.

Prevention is a key factor when it comes down to crime prevention. It offers power over resources, places susceptible areas on display, and formulates steps for prevention. This is so that we can recognize problematic factors prior to, focus on prominent issues, and makes formal application measures that reduces the capacity of adverse consequences. Planning makes it less complicated to include other stakeholders and community partners, like law enforcement agencies, community-based organizations, and local government entities, in preventing crime (Skogan & Harnett, 2019).

The crime patterns, demographics, and public response should be considered to gain the best impact of including the needed techniques and measures. For that reason, planning is an important quality for accurate and effective formulation and implementation of crime control measures that will lower the crime rates all while progressing the quality of life of the people within society (Skogan & Hartnett, 2019).

What types of crimes are the most difficult to plan for regarding prevention? Explain.

The crimes that are difficult to avoid are the ones that cover those that are extremely dynamic and on constant evolution. Let’s take for example cybercrimes. Cybercrimes are difficult to prevent as they are more organized and happen daily across the country. It is also challenging for law enforcement to point out the criminal’s location and identity since most of them work in various parts of the country (Thakur, 2024).

Also, the acts of terrorism and organized crime consist of criminal networks, and covert activities that are frequently complicated to assume and curb. To overcome these issues, it is important to include nationwide cooperation, a high level of technological support, and active intelligence acquisition. Additionally, there are things that can be put into action to avoid these challenges; these include boosting cybersecurity, sharing intelligence data, and help from the community (Thakur, 2024).

How would you improve the planning process to further prevent crime? Explain in detail.

When it comes to planning for crime prevention, I would make sure that people like law enforcement agencies, different community activists, government departments, and other important individuals are included. This active partnership is a way of making sure each opinion is considered. In addition, I would aim for an evidence-based encounter and use analytics, technical, and technological ways to assume new predictions of new tendencies, the likelihood of risks, and weak spots. Community relations are also involved because it includes the help of the community and community engagement. This would also guarantee participation and commitment in fighting crime (Nzuva &Kimanzi, 2022).

What is the importance of personnel management regarding crime prevention? Explain in detail.

Human resource management is a key factor in fighting crime as it is effective, motivating, and productive for the officers. Personnel management helps officers to become more advanced in being able to perform their duties in the best possible way. Also, coming up with ways of embracing communication helps to improve workers’ morale and retention rates, making the turnover rate decrease, having more experience within the workforce (Nzuva & Kimanzi, 2022).

What would you recommend to effectively manage, train, and retain personnel to improve crime prevention? Explain.

So that crime prevention can become effective through management, training, and retention of personnel, the first thing I would do is include professional development for all officers so that they are able to enhance their knowledge in when it comes to crime prevention techniques, equipment, and innovation. The second thing to do is encourage an organizational culture that is positive and encourages open dialogue and teamwork (Pathiranage, 2019). This will involve activities like mentoring programs, providing promotions, and encouraging working hours that are flexible to work around. Reasonable compensation and programs for employee incentives will be an attraction as well. To conclude, feedback from personnel is also helpful and including them in the decision-making process would make them feel important and part of the crime prevention team (Pathiranage, 2019).

References

Crowl, J.N. (2017). The effects of community policing on fear and crime reduction, police legitimacy and job satisfaction: an empirical review of the evidence. Police Practive and Research, 18(5), 449-462.

Ekici, N., Akdogan, H., Kelly, R., & Gultekin, S. (2022). A meta-analysis of the impact of community policing on crime reduction. Journal of community safety and well-being, 7(3), 111-121.

Kappeler, V.E., Gaines, L.K., & Schaefer, B.P. (2020). Community policing: A contemporary perspective, Routledge.

Nzuva, S.M., & Kimanzi, P.M. (2022). The impact of organizational culture on employees’ productivity: A comprehensive systematic review. European Journal of Business and Management, 14(4), 42-55.

Pathiranage, J. (2019). Organizational culture and business performance: an empirical study. International Journal of Economics and Management, 24(2), 264-278.

Skogan, W.G., & Hartnett, S.M. (2019). Community policing. Police Innovation: Contrasting perspective, 27-44.

Thakur, M. (2024). Cyber sercurity threats and countermeasures in the digital age. Journal of Applied Science and Education (JASE), 4(1), 1-209d