In recent years, community policing has emerged as one of the most practical ways of easing responsibilities on the police, enhancing relations between law enforcement and communities, and curbing criminal activities before they get severe. Although it has achieved its share of success, the gap between law enforcement remains large, with the two parties often blaming each other due to societal events. According to Fischer-Stewart (2016), community policing involves law enforcement and the community in creating meaningful partnerships, solving problems together, and implementing policies to curb crime and enhance social security. Community policing bears numerous benefits for law enforcement and also for society. For law enforcement, it keeps the police alert and informed on happenings occurring in the community, enabling them to take preventive measures in curbing criminal activities. Besides, community policing reduces conflict between the police and the public (Stein & Griffith, 2017). To the residents, it ensures that all the needs concerning policing are approached according to their interests and context. Through community policing, citizens develop faith and trust in law enforcement, enhancing adherence to the law and reducing crime.

Barriers to Community Policing

Community policing is an inclusive and practical approach to policing. However, it is not achieving its full societal potential due to several factors. Lack of resources is one of the reasons why community policing is failing in the current setting. As Wilson et al. (2010) noted, law enforcement faces a critical challenge in recruitment and staffing. With society transforming rapidly, the responsibilities bestowed upon the police are increasing. Despite that, the resources vital in executing their duties remain constant or dwindling. In this context, the police force faces challenges in staffing and resources to enhance community policing. The staffing crisis often emanates from attrition and changing career trends. The younger generation is much more interested in informal careers that come with a lot of flexibility and liberty. Besides, based on societal values and the antagonism between law enforcement and the public, many people desist from becoming police officers (Vermeer et al., 2020). According to Wilson et al. (2010), lack of resources results in under-policing and over-policing in society. Under policing denotes a scenario whereby the community lacks adequate services from the police due to understaffing and lack of good relations between police and the community. Over policing describes a situation whereby the residents feel under siege from an overstaffed police force, often using predatory and aggressive methods in policing that involve threats and violence on community members.

Perhaps since human civilization, multiculturalism remains a critical challenge to relations between law enforcement and the community. Like many other countries, the United States comprises people from different cultures drawn from all over the world due to employment, business, tourism, and other aspects. Policing a multicultural population is not simple (Giwa, 2018). Quite often, the public condemns law enforcement for hostility and brutality stemming from racialism. In U.S.A, most members of the police force are from the White community. In the course of their duties, white officers fall under scrutiny for racial discrimination, hatred, and violence meted upon members from minority communities like Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians (Louis& Grantham, 2019). The ugly consequences of this scenario are the deadly protests and destruction of property as the public appeals for equality and justice against racialism in law enforcement.  Failure to address multiculturalism fragments the society, resulting in a scenario where the police label the public as the enemy and vice versa. Under such conditions, fostering good relations between law enforcement and the community becomes challenging. Quite often, police officers fall victim to acts of retaliation carried out by community members whose families are brutalized by the police.

Throughout the years, success in community policing continuously faces a lack of accountability and corruption. Across various neighborhoods, law enforcement has been criticized for a lack of response and participation in criminal activities occurring in the communities. Quite often, community members accuse law enforcement of bribery and involvement in crimes like kidnappings and drug trafficking in the neighborhoods. In such settings, officers profit from criminal activities and receive bribes to keep the situation under control for illegal businesses to thrive (Jackson, 2015). Such conditions work in severing ties between law enforcement and the community as members fear exposure for informing the police about criminal activities going on within the community. Corruption destroys the integrity of police officers, and they forget their duty to protect the community. Corrupt and rogue officers acquire a new line of thinking that they must be paid or compensated to offer their services to the community. This perversion of policing undermines community policing.

The human environment continuously evolves daily, acquiring new and losing aspects. For instance, climate change is a recent phenomenon with an evident impact on humanity. In response, governments and organizations have adopted policies to align themselves to mitigate the effects of climate change. In the context of law enforcement, society is continuously transforming, and so is crime. Most law enforcement, however, is stuck in traditional aspects of policing that undermine community policing. For instance, in communities where drug and substance use is rampant, some officers take it upon themselves to hunt and capture dealers and users without involving the community. Such actions only result in the alienation of the police and the creation of more complex and undetectable ways of committing the same crimes. Arguably, officers who often use aggressive and compulsive techniques in addressing crime lack training in the community. In neighborhoods where the police lack training in community policing, there is an evident lack of coordination and bias in police activities. In such scenarios, community member withdraws their help and leave the police to handle situations in whatever ways they can. This scenario presents challenges in preventing crime and solving problems occurring in society.

Ways of Enhancing Community Policing

In light of the factors discussed above, it is still possible to enhance community policing to achieve its maximum potential. However, the transition involves various procedures and considerations. Firstly, community policing builds trust between the police and community members. Faith and trust between these parties are the base from which all other aspects emanate. Without trust, it is hard to initiate any operations regarding community policing. Transparency and accountability are vital in fostering trust between the police and the public. In enhancing accountability, police departments should always provide adequate and reliable information to the community concerning particular occurrences, events, and alerts. In so doing, the residents do not feel left out or think the police may withhold information from them. Also, law enforcement should always involve the media in covering issues concerning the community to enhance openness. Although this move ensures accountability, the police should indicate when it is too early to disseminate information concerning specific occurrences to avoid suspicions from the public. Departments should employ digital means like websites, blogs, and other online platforms to relay information to the public (Williams et al., 2018). Digital platforms are much more accessible than newsletters and public briefings.

With accountability and transparency in place, it is critical to highlight historical occurrences in the context of police and the community. Most community programs fail because they fail to consider historical aspects related to racialism and the oppression of minority communities by law enforcement. For instance, the Black community has historically been targeted, oppressed, and brutalized by law enforcement for many years (Jones et al., 2019). Such occurrences lead to unending hatred, contempt, and suspicions between the Blacks and the police. In fostering good relations, it is crucial to understand that today’s mistrust stems from a historical underpinning (Mentel, 2012).  Besides addressing historical injustices, the police and the respective community should come together and acknowledge the challenges prevalent in the neighborhood. For instance, if gun violence is the problem, it is critical to understand the underlying causes.

Addressing cultural diversity is one of the critical ways of enhancing community policing. Most communities in contemporary society comprise people from diverse cultures and geographical locations. To better understand the residents, law enforcement should work with individuals from various cultures. In this context, police departments should recruit individuals from the communities in which they operate (Todak et al., 2018). Besides hiring individuals from different cultures, police departments should practice equality, justice, and fairness. By so doing, it will be much easier to implement such values in interacting with the community.  Cultural diversity in law enforcement will not only help the police to understand cultural issues but also enhance problem-solving processes from various angles (Bury et al., 2018). One of the most notable features in police staffing today is cultural diversity. A diverse workforce forges relations with a community much easier as it represents equality, diversity, and respect. Moreover, police agencies should take a step further and inculcate policing in recruitment processes. Such a move will save the majority of the police force time spent adjusting and addressing cultural factors during duty. 

Training is vital in enhancing community policing. Training involves reconfiguring the police force according to the community’s needs and vice versa. Police training reduces cultural bias, thus enhancing cultural competency (Norris, 2018). In this context, officers become aware of the unwelcome gestures that might trigger confrontations with the respective community. For instance, officers should consider reducing unnecessary practices like stopping and frisking community members for no apparent reason. Although it may be part of the protocol, many people take such procedures as harassment and develop resentment toward the police. Besides, even when making arrests, police should exhaust all available options to avoid armed or aggressive encounters with suspects. It does not mean that they should always negotiate, but they should use negotiation as a tool in averting violence and loss of life. There are several approaches available that could minimize aggressive encounters.  Avoiding deadly encounters is not only beneficial for maintaining good relations with the community but also critical in that sometimes, police officers get injured or lose their lives in the process of apprehending suspects. In this perspective, training ensures officers know the methods, equipment, and tactics suitable for handling a particular situation (Owens et al., 2018). Besides cultural competency, training equips officers with the skills critical in carrying out their day-to-day activities.

Developing a cooperative police force is necessary to enhance community policing. In the traditional setting, police officers had only one task – to enforce laws upon society. In this context, they operated as a higher authority, with the community as the subject of law enforcement. This aspect gave the officers the power to manipulate the communities around them to yield to their demands. Quite often, police employ coercive methods to obtain information from community members. Such an environment lacked collaboration between the police and the community, and the residents often opted to conceal useful information that could prevent or solve many cases (Przeszlowski & Crichlow, 2018). Community policing has developed a collaborative relationship between the police and the public.  Although it is still in practice, several measures could make it more practical than it currently is. Firstly, police officers must be physically seen in the communities and get known to community members. As noted By (Gove & Tracy, 2011), most people do not recognize police officers in contexts outside of enforcement.  Due to this, they develop negative attitudes toward law enforcement. By actively interacting with the community in other activities, police officers establish themselves as ordinary people whose duty is to ensure the safety and welfare of all community members. Interaction helps in reducing bias, overcoming personal limitations, and stereotypes that breed mistrust between police and the community. Knowledge of community members help police officers in identifying lawbreakers from law-abiding citizens.

Collaboration with the community involves more than just getting to know or be known by residents. Practically, this entails reducing the number of officers in the offices and patrol cars and increasing officers in activities involving residents. This program has worked in Camden, New Jersey, and other states (Wilson, 2013).  Besides, police departments should enhance interaction by organizing participative activities that involve the police and the residents. The two parties get acquainted and foster a collaborative relationship through such events.  Police participation in school and community events and youth academies strengthens the bond between the police and the public. 

Community policing emerges as the panacea to the “us versus them” relationship between police and the public that has existed since time immemorial. Also, it is a process of re-imaging and reconfiguring institutions to align with society’s needs. Over the years, educational, law enforcement, and administration institutions have been rooted in ideology, racialism, and stereotypes. With the current wave and emphasis on liberty, freedom, and human rights, massive calls have been made to reform institutions such as the justice system and law enforcement. Community policing, therefore, stands for change not only in the image but also in the functioning of the police force. In making it more practical, it is critical to pay keen attention to understanding the problem, allocating the necessary resources, enhancing training programs, and fostering collaboration with the communities.

Reference

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