In the current society high levels of crime have seen the community and the police come up with community oriented policing and problem oriented policing. The two approaches guarantee security in our communities at all times. To build on this topic, this paper shall: define community oriented policing and problem oriented policing, while giving their strengths and weaknesses; give examples of the two approaches; compare and contrast the two approaches and explain their relationship; and explain some problems that police departments may face while trying to implement community policing and problem oriented policing. A conclusion that gives a summary of key points discussed shall then be made.
Community Oriented Policing
Community oriented policing is a way of police management style and operation plan (Oliver, 2008). It is a mode of life that emphasizes on the partnership between the police and the society, depending on the needs that exist in the society.
Community policing was initially introduced to solve security problems in the community (Palmiotto, 2000). Community policing seeks to inaugurate a dynamic partnership amidst the police and the community. Community policing is mainly service oriented, upholding the need to consider a community’s interest in enhancing safety. The directing of surveys, interviews, workshops and community profiles can help identify community needs.
Significantly, there exists a relationship between the two parties involved in community policing, whereby the community is the client and police is the service provider. Thus, the police have a duty to ensure that the needs of the client become under control at all times.
Furthermore, community policing can be described as an organization between the community and the police, with the main objective of assessing the community needs and ensuring accountability and effectiveness of the police (Palmiotto, 2000). There exists an in-depth consultation within the members of the community, whereby introduction of community policing assumes the main agenda. After the conclusion, consideration of the importance of community police, a discussion between the two parties begins (Rodgers, 2009). Community policing organizes meeting whereby there is consultation on issues; supplementary channels are likely to be developed and ought to include the involvement of all the interested parties.
Community oriented policing is beneficial as it takes into consideration the views of the community to come up with effective ways of solving problems faced by the community. Analysis of the real and uprising factors that constitute to crime and violence in the community can be located jointly by both the community and police. An outcome of the survey carried out leads to problems throughout. Problem solving consists of conflict resolution that addresses problems that affect communities. Strengths of community policing assist the community to get the guarantee of security throughout.
The major weakness of community policing is that it is difficult to implement. Rodgers (2009) describes the cultural clash between street police and police administrations, whereby the street police concentrate on crime fighting while the administration focus on building partnerships and problem solving as cumbersome.
At the same time, there seems to be poor training on community policing principles and strategies, which affects exactly how officers carry out their work. Notably, community policing training is an addition to traditional training; and takes less than one week. As officers embrace the philosophy of community policing, they could lack the resources to implement policing in their daily work.
Lastly, barriers arise from the acute role that communities play in effective community policing. Theoretically, community representatives are ready to mobilize and interact with police in identifying problems and potential solutions in forums. In actual practice, those who participate in these forums may not become from the community.
Problem Oriented Policing
Problem oriented policing is an approach whereby the discrete duty of police is thorough examination (Bullock, 2003). Problem oriented policing tends to carry out investigations while placing an extreme value on new responses. In addition, problem-oriented policing constructs new strategies and implementation that are meant to benefit the community (Knutsson, 2003).
Mainly, problem-oriented policing deals with issues of crime and disorders since it focuses on identifying and altering the issues that give rise to problems. This implies that police mainly use experiences from problem oriented policing for police jurisdictions. This increases the probability of finding lasting solutions to the problems.
A key strength of problem oriented policing is that it is preventive, thus not dependent on the use of the criminal-justice system which engages the public, especially the community. Equally, problem oriented policing saves a lot of time and effort which would be used in police jurisdictions. Problem oriented policing solutions is usually made available to other agencies rather than being confined in a few police jurisdictions. Problems that were handled earlier on become widely experienced.
Despite the fact, that problem oriented policing has a lot of strength it also has a few weaknesses. Lack of proper evidence needed to carry out the research hinders the police from arriving at right conclusions.
Examples of Application of these two Approaches
Problem oriented policing could be applied in responding to the occurrence of the day to day cases about drug dealing and vandalism in an estate (Knutsson, 2003). Honestly, an approach of dispatching an officer to investigate the scenario and continually arresting offenders could do little to solve the prevailing cases of a long term crime and drug problem. Therefore, problem-oriented policing practice into the investigation would be essential in examining the conditions underlying the problem.
An example of community oriented policing is whereby an estate is divided into several geographic areas with a team assigned to each area. While trying to reduce the crime rates, police officers patrol and protect the community from theft and burglary.
Differences and Similarities between Problems Oriented Policing and Community Oriented Policing
These two approaches compare in that they are intended to achieve one goal, which is coming up with solutions to problems that affect the society at large. Conversely, the two approaches differ in that the main concern in problem oriented policing is the establishment of problems that arise in the community whereas community oriented policing focuses on protecting the community from the problems.
Challenges Faced by the Police
As the police try to give their best in serving the community, they face the challenge of attacks, especially in high crime-rated areas. Lack of cooperation among community members also deters them from achieving their set goals.
In problem oriented policing lack of proper training in terms of analysis and investigation poses a risk in implementation as they are only trained on this approach for just a week (Knutsson, 2003). Furthermore, lack of proper evidence hinders the police from obtaining positive results.
In conclusion, both community policing and problem oriented policing are important approaches that are usually used to maintain security in our communities. Community policing seeks to inaugurate a dynamic partnership amidst the police and the community. Community policing is mainly service oriented, upholding the need to consider a community’s interest in enhancing safety. Significantly, there exists a relationship between the two parties involved in community policing, whereby the community is the client and police is the service provider. Community oriented policing is beneficial as it takes into consideration the views of the community. The major weakness of community policing is that it is difficult to implement.
Conversely, problem-oriented policing deals with issues of crime and disorders since it focuses on identifying and altering the issues that give rise to problems. A key strength of problem oriented policing is that it is preventive, thus not dependent on the use of the criminal-justice system which engages the public, especially the community. The key disadvantage of problem oriented policing is that lack of proper evidence needed to carry out the research hinders the police from arriving at right conclusions. These two approaches compare in that they are intended to achieve one goal, which is coming up with solutions to problems that affect the society at large. Conversely, the two approaches differ in that the main concern in problem oriented policing is the establishment of problems that arise in the community whereas community oriented policing focuses on protecting the community from the problems. Some challenges that the police encounter while trying to implement the two approaches include: the challenge of attacks, especially in high crime-rated areas; lack of cooperation among community members; lack of proper training in terms of analysis and investigation; and lack of proper evidence which hinders the police from obtaining positive results.
References
Bullock, K. & Tilley, N. (2003). Crime reduction and problem-oriented policing. London: Willan
Knutsson, J. (2003). Problem-oriented policing: from innovation to mainstream. New York: Oxford University Press
Oliver, W. (2008). Community-oriented policing: a systemic approach to policing. New York: Prentice Hall
Palmiotto, M. (2000). Community policing: a policing strategy for the 21st century. London: Aspen
Rogers, S. (2009). Proven strategies for effective community oriented policing. New York: Looseleaf Law Publications