Community and Problem-Solving Policing

Community and Problem-Solving Policing

CJS/210

Community and Problem-Solving Policing

“The police are the public and the public are the police; the police only being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence” (Sir Robert Peel, 1850). Community and problem-solving policing are set to have communities interact with police officers and help solve crime and underlying problems included with criminal activity in communities. In this essay I am going to explain the different philosophies and viewpoints of community policing, federal government’s integration into community policing, problem-solving policing, and the type of policing I feel is most effective.

Community Policing

Community policing is the philosophy that individuals within a community and Community Police Officers build relationships and interact with one another in order to solve crime and problems within a community. Police officers are not always aware of what goes on when not on duty or responding to emergency calls and building a rapport with members within a community helps diminish crime statistics, catch criminals, and allows officers to implement effective methods in order to bring about “the overall quality of life” (An Introduction to Policing, 2005), in communities. For example, if there are a lot of individual’s cars in a community being stolen and there are a few witnesses that have seen and know of the individuals that have committed the crime and their strategies. It would make police officers jobs and duties a whole lot easier to solve the crime and catch the criminals if the trust and efforts were put forth to build relationships with communities.

In addition, there are many programs that are used to enhance the effectiveness of community policing. Strategic methods used to enhance the effectiveness of community and police officer relations include...