Community Policing

Community policing is a proven method for lowering the crime rate in the United States. Community policing has been a law enforcement strategy for nearly thirty years. In august of 1994, the United States Department of Justice formed the Community Policing Consortium. The goal of this consortium was to develop a framework for understanding and implementing community policing in neighborhoods across America. The consortium consisted of representatives from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriff’s Association, the Police Executive Research Forum, and the Police Foundation. According to the consortium, community policing consists of two core components, community partnership and problem solving (Gaffigan, 1994, p. 13). Community partnership focuses on a mutual trust between local police departments and their community’s residents. In order to facilitate this mutual trust police should encourage residents to come forth with any information they may have. In turn police departments should send representatives to speak with neighborhood groups, participate in business and civic events, work with social agencies, and take part in educational and recreational programs for school children (Gaffigan, 1994, p.13). The consortium also encourages police departments to perform duties outside of the normal law enforcement scope. Some of these duties include helping accident or crime victims, providing emergency medical services, helping dissolve domestic and neighborhood conflicts, working with residents and local businesses to improve neighborhood conditions, and providing a model of citizenship (Gaffigan, 1994, p.13). The second core component, problem solving, is the elimination and prevention of crimes. A number of underlying factors affect the way in which this can be accomplished. “These conditions might include the characteristics of the people involved (offenders, potential victims, and others), the social setting in which these people

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