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chapter__4.pptxNeighborhood-Oriented Policing
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
Crime and bad lives are the measure of a State’s failure, all crime in the end is the crime of the community
H.G. Wells
The second component of community-oriented policing is neighborhood –oriented policing.
This component entails the interaction of the police and all community members t0 reduce crime and the fear of crime through indigenous proactive programs
It is an integration of the police and community working together, opening up the lines of communication and establishing responses to the criminal and social problems in a community.
It is through this cooperative effort that the goals of reducing crime and fear are achieved.
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
The literature often details this component as the core of COP or as the entire and sole concept of COP.
Many practitioners who implement neighborhood policing refer to it as COP
Despite the many used of the term all of them focus on the integration of the police and community
When discussing neighborhood-oriented policing the focus should be on the various types of patrols and programs that bring the community and police together.
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
As stated in Chapter one, traditional policing was known as police-community relations and was concerned with establishing police units to address various groups and community concerns
An example might be the importance of youth in a community. The department may assign people who are dedicated to work with the youth. These officers are assigned only to work with the youth.
However, the rest of the department is not focused on this task and may even feel that having a youth crime officer removed the responsibility from them
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
Under the neighborhood-oriented policing component of COP every police officer should be involved in some form or fashion in establishing community relations
The mentality that some officer do not have to deal with the youth or that some officers do not have to practice COP must be dismissed for NOP to be successful.
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
In the same way, the community must give up the mentality that crime and order maintenance are the police department’s job and of no concern to them
Police officers know that they have a difficult job because they can not be everywhere.
Everyone recognizes this fact and it is reflected in the statement, “there is never a cop around when you need one”.
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
This mentality must change as well. It is usually mentioned in a negative sense.
However, if citizens will recognize the fact there is not always a cop around when you need one because there are so few officers available and recognize that they cannot reasonably be everywhere at once, then the citizens will recognize that it is the citizens responsibility to assist the police and make them aware of the situations that impact the community.
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
Changing the mentality of the police and community and bring them together is the key to a successful neighborhood-policing program
This success depends on the participation of the entire community, not just segments of society
Is this possible?
What if there are groups that are antagonistic towards each other?
Groups can include family, schools, churches, retail establishments, neighborhood associations, professional (doctors, lawyers, etc), social and community groups and all of these groups must pool their resources, participate, and help develop a bond between the community and police.
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
The neighborhood must create some form of committee that consists of a cross-section of the neighborhood.
Formal leadership, informal leadership and the average citizen
All of these individual must work to represent the community and bring attention to everyone the criminal and order issues in a community
They must develop a course of action
They must work with the police to implement the solutions.
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
One Subtle issue can have a major impact on the success of NOP and COP.
The issue arise as to who implements these programs and policies
If the community does not have a properly functioning committee in place or a system for addressing local concerns then the police must initiate the neighborhood-oriented programs
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
If the programs are initiated by the police then it becomes their responsibility to do everything possible to draw in the support of the community to support them and to participate.
The police must become the catalyst for a community and they must lead community members.
If there is a system in place then it becomes possible for the police and community to work together to create programs that can be implemented by the police and community.
These programs are generally more oriented towards community desires and are more in line with community’s concept
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
There will always be a problem with power and determining who is in power.
Who has the most power when the community and police disagree on a course of action?
This is likely one of the main reasons that community-oriented policing does not get properly implemented
Do you really think most police administrators giving up the decision making power to the citizens?
For this to work the right person must be hired. It is not about ego.
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
For neighborhood-oriented policing to be fully implemented and operational it should be initiated by the community.
The community and public should not be seen as a politic ally or functional partner, but they should be seen as the head of the institution for which the police work
Ultimately the police must be run by the community
COPS IN ACTION
Page 78-80
Summarize key points
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
This is not to say that the police have no input into the decisions they wish to see implemented, only that programs are initiated primarily by the neighborhood.
Herein lies one of the fundamental problems with the concept of COP. Under this philosophy, it is the neighborhood that makes the decisions
Once these programs are fully functional and have become part of the community’s method of policing, the community and neighborhood make the decisions for what is a concern and what is not on the part of the police
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
The citizens decide where the police will put their resources, which crimes should be targeted and how they will be targeted
The citizens become part of a two leadership system
The leadership that determines the overall mission of the police and the programs that should be implemented is the community.
The leadership that carries out the mission and the day to day operations is the police chief.
Do all communities have the community resources to take on this role?
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
The community takes on the role of board of directors and the police chief serves as the chief executive officer
This is a proven concept of leadership that works in public and private institutions
The community must take on the role to determine what the job, roles, and responsibilities of the police must be and determine how the police could best do their job.
As an officer or future officer how do you feel about this?
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
The police chief is the chief executive officer and is responsible for the police officers’ welfare and instilling a sense of unit cohesion and to create a police force that is capable of carrying out the tasks of the community
The chief should ensure that officers are well-trained, well-educated, and well equipped. He should also hire a police force with a community-oriented policing ability and mindset.
The chief should also challenge those ideas that are not feasible to implement
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
I challenged you to find a department, especially in Utah that is functioning as described in this text
Are there any departments that even have a board of citizens and community members who discuss law enforcement operations
Initiating Neighborhood-Oriented Policing
Through this cooperative effort NOP and COP can be successful.
The citizens have a clear and established role in the policing of their community and in directing where police resources are directed.
This empowerment helps citizens become more involved and concerned for their neighborhoods, causing them to work more closely with the police and assisting them to restore order and in arresting and prosecuting criminals
Could this be a key to countering community apathy?
Partnership Examples
Page 83
Neighborhood-Oriented Policing Programs
There are four types of neighborhood-oriented policing programs
Community Patrols
Community crime prevention programs
Communication programs
Community social control programs
These four programs are the practitioner’s method of implementing NOP. Each program serves a different purpose and a general examples
Community Patrols
Community Patrols are those types of patrols that create a strong police presence and allow the police to be more accessible to the public
Community patrols allow them to be in areas of high traffic and where they are generally needed.
They are in place to serve a specific purpose
The main concern for community patrols is high visibility because research shows this results in an improved public perception of the police
Community Patrols
Community patrols
Foot patrols
Pros/cons
Text “with foot patrols the level of fear decreases and citizen satisfaction increases
There is evidence that when foot patrols are removed, regardless of the reason, the community refuses to allow them to leave
Foot patrols are also good for the officers who have a greater appreciation of the neighborhood, have greater job satisfaction and higher morale
There is some debate concerning their effect on crime rates.
They may increase crime because response times are slow and police are spread too thin
Community Patrols
Bike patrols
pros/cons
More mobility than foot patrol
Text “place SRO’s on bikes in the summer”
Community Patrols
Horse patrols
Crowd control and increased officer visibility and safety
Substations and store fronts
Increases accessibility
Community Crime Prevention Programs
The main goal or purpose in community crime prevention is to reach out to those individuals, institutions, and groups that may be targets of crime or future perpetrators
In most programs the police are the facilitators of the programs and they must work to get the public involved.
Community Crime Prevention Programs
The primary programs are;
Neighborhood watch
Operation ID
Home Security Surveys
Studies have shown these programs to be effective
Community Crime Prevention Programs
Neighborhood watch has many names and variations
Apartment watch, block watch, crime watch, community alerts
The programs have one thing in common: to have neighbors watch out for each other, to be alert to the day to day occurrences in their neighborhoods and to notify the police
Should include a regular meeting with the police
To discuss which local crimes are addressed, crime prevention strategies are shared and planning for patrols or surveillance
Allows for contact and communication between the police and citizens and citizen empowerment
Community Crime Prevention Programs
While these are generally established by the police, they are primarily community programs and must be run by the community, not dictated by the police
Police are involved for guidance and structure
What if a program is set up without the police authorization or even contrary to their recommendations?
Community Crime Prevention Programs
Operation ID
Property is engraved or marked for identification
Property must me marked in a way that allows identification and can be listed NCIC
In Utah County some items are also bugged with radio and/or GPS trackers
Home Security Surveys
Police can provide a crime prevention checklist
Assist stores with camera placement
CPTED
Education (i.e. close your garage doors)
Community Crime Prevention Programs
DARE Program (first established by Daryl Gates LAPD in 1983)
Daryl Gates was also known for starting SWAT and was Chief during the Rodney King incident
Is the DARE Program successful and worth the officer time and money spent?
NOVA now taught in Utah
Community Crime Prevention Programs
Outreach Program
Primarily focused on reducing fear in a community
Officers go door to door and try to establish a community coalition
New York – Community Patrol Officer Program
Opening communication in this manner resulted in enhanced community relations and problem solving
Community Crime Prevention Programs
School Resources Officers
Pros/cons
Youth campouts
Wilderness programs
Sports programs/tournaments
Your imagination is the only limit to the programs that can be used.
Community Crime Prevention Programs
What kind of officer would you hire or train for these assignments?
Communication Programs
The main goals are to open lines of communication
Should make communication with the police more accessible
Facebook, twitter, news media, brochures, newsletters, e-mail
Ride-Alongs
Citizens Academy’s
Spouse Academy’s
CSI Academy for Youth
Television shows
Sticker programs for the kids
Community Social Control Programs
Based upon Hirshi’s social control theory that allows the police and community to exert influence over various segments that cause criminal activity and/or commit acts against social order maintenance
Social control theory explains why people commit crime and why people do not commit crime
Community Social Control Programs
Hirshi believed that most people, if left to their own devices, would commit crime, but that it is our attachments, commitments, involvements and beliefs that prevents us from committing crime.
Our attachment to our community, peers, schools, parents and spouses
Involvement in education, careers, and our futures and involvement in the community through church, sports, social groups and our beliefs in honesty, morality and caring
If these are present there is a reduced likelihood of crime and disorder
Community Social Control Programs
So how do we create an environment of community involvement, commitment and ownership?
Especially for those who feel left out, excluded and need it the most
It should be the goal of the police and community to maintain, enhance or restore a strong sense of social control over the entire community
Community Social Control Programs
There must be something done through strengthening the bonds of those groups in a position to exert social control and they must work with those groups that fail to abide by the social norms
Many times those who abide by the law are afraid to say something to an individual committing a crime or to the police
If the police can strengthen these law abiding citizens then the element of fear may be removed and the community may get involved.
Community Social Control Programs
Officers may be offered home at a reduced price in neighborhoods that need assistance
The media can also assist in helping to communicate to the community and to keep the public informed.
Community Social Control Programs
The police must work with must work with, not just against, groups that violate the social control measures of a community by attempting to create an atmosphere of zero tolerance.
i.e. if there are graffiti problems you must work with the gangs
Community Social Control Programs
Code Enforcement teams
May involve police, fire, building inspectors, housing officials, zoning and others
All parties can bring a different view and set of tools together for solving the problem.
Code Enforcement Teams Page 98
