community policing
Ajs502 Community Policing
Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy
October 22, 2012
A police officer’s duty is to keep the peace, maintain order, and solve problems within the community. Their role as officers is selfless and demanding. Duties of a police officer include patrol, answering calls, conducting interviews, investigations, traffic, make arrests, and report writing. Each officer is sworn to serve and protect a national average of 1,000 citizens per officer (Barnard, 2008). In big cities or in high crime areas, the job is more daunting.
With a large ratio of police to citizen, crime prevention can be a challenge. Police departments looked to the community for help in reporting and preventing crime. Programs like the Neighborhood Watch, D.A.R.E., and Police Explorers was created to keep the community involved. The idea was to engage the citizens and build a trust. The programs were educational and required active participation.
The community needs to feel safe and trust that police officers are there for them and working with them directly. Police must build a positive rapport to overcome the negative stigma placed on officers. Once the trust is built, citizens are more likely to report crimes in their neighborhood. Community-policing advocates assert that the most effective way of reducing community decay and disorder is through collaborative relationship between police and the community (Katz, Walker).
The Chicago Police Department implemented an alternative policing program that would involve the entire police department and the community members. The program is intended to create a partnership that would help police identify unyielding criminal trends and apply solutions. The program is best known as the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS).
CAPS required police to hold routine meetings with the public to discuss neighborhood problems openly and find possible solutions. These are called “beat” meetings. There are 285 beats in Chicago and
Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy
October 22, 2012
A police officer’s duty is to keep the peace, maintain order, and solve problems within the community. Their role as officers is selfless and demanding. Duties of a police officer include patrol, answering calls, conducting interviews, investigations, traffic, make arrests, and report writing. Each officer is sworn to serve and protect a national average of 1,000 citizens per officer (Barnard, 2008). In big cities or in high crime areas, the job is more daunting.
With a large ratio of police to citizen, crime prevention can be a challenge. Police departments looked to the community for help in reporting and preventing crime. Programs like the Neighborhood Watch, D.A.R.E., and Police Explorers was created to keep the community involved. The idea was to engage the citizens and build a trust. The programs were educational and required active participation.
The community needs to feel safe and trust that police officers are there for them and working with them directly. Police must build a positive rapport to overcome the negative stigma placed on officers. Once the trust is built, citizens are more likely to report crimes in their neighborhood. Community-policing advocates assert that the most effective way of reducing community decay and disorder is through collaborative relationship between police and the community (Katz, Walker).
The Chicago Police Department implemented an alternative policing program that would involve the entire police department and the community members. The program is intended to create a partnership that would help police identify unyielding criminal trends and apply solutions. The program is best known as the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS).
CAPS required police to hold routine meetings with the public to discuss neighborhood problems openly and find possible solutions. These are called “beat” meetings. There are 285 beats in Chicago and
References: Barnard, M. (2008, September). Sworn Police Officers per 1,000 Citizens. Policepay Journal ( ). Community Policing Defined. (). Community Policing Services US Department of Justice, 8(092712). Retrieved from http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/publications/e061229476_CP-Defined-TEXT_v8_092712 Walker, S. and Katz, C.M. (2011). The Police in America: An Introduction (7th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill