The relationship between law enforcement officers and members of the community has witnessed some significant issues for a long time. In cases where they are called upon to assist, law enforcement officers can be something heaven-sent. However, the perception takes a different turn when they are handling a friend who has broken the law, or are writing tickets. In this regard, many departments in the U.S. have taken the initiative to advance the public view of law enforcement. Community policing has outstandingly proved to be the best way to give law enforcement another image. Community policing is a philosophy that incorporates administrative strategies that back problem-solving and partnership techniques that address public safety issues (Dunn et al., 2016). As per Miller et al. (2013), community policing is a philosophy that stresses proactive working in partnership with citizens to prevent them from engaging in criminal activities and address issues related to crime (Miller et al. 2013). Although traditional policing is still in use, community policing is the new trend and is characterized by many concepts that are overall relatively better.
Community-based policing is the design that the law enforcement officers do not appear as enemies of the people. In this connection, law enforcement officers’ role is not that of arresting lawbreakers, but more that of coming to the general public’s aid. In order for community-based policing to be effective, incidences of crime are not necessary. In fact, it is more successful without criminal acts getting pending. His involvement in crime. Modern police departments are tasked with helping citizens resolve varied personal problems, many of which do not entail law-breaking (Skogan & Hartnett, 2019). In community-based policing, law enforcement officers are entitled to influence the community.
Community policing comprises two components: Problem-solving and community partnership. The former involves identifying and solving problems that may trigger crime risks, while the latter involves collaborating to find solutions to community problems that may not necessarily entail crime (Skogan & Hartnett, 2019). Law enforcement officers are obliged to stretch positive associations with the general public to improve crime control and deterrence. At the same time, they should utilize every resource at their disposal to address the most critical concerns in the community. On a different note, community-based policing is based on several principles that facilitate healthy relations between law enforcement officers and citizens. Firstly, the law enforcement officers must embrace fairness and justice in all their operations — they must implement laws fairly (Skogan & Hartnett, 2019). Secondly, law enforcement officers should not be quick to apply force when dealing with the general public; to them, force should come as a last resort. Additionally, on the part of the citizens, they should make it a habit to avoid disorder and crime.
As much as community-based policing promotes a shared collaboration between law implementation organizations, officers, and societies, the system raises several ethical issues that do not ensure adequate service provision to the community (Fisher-Stewart, 2016). Some of the ethical issues associated with community policing are discussed below.
Corruption occurs when law enforcement officers abuse their authority to extract money from citizens in exchange for failing to regularly report unlawful activity or speeding up bureaucratic procedures. When police officers threaten to penalize or jail civilians under pretenses to collect bribes, this can also be extortion in some nations (Miller & Blackler, 2017). With this, it is evident that community-based policing has drawbacks: aggression between the law enforcement agency and the community can hinder creative collaboration; intensifications in officers’ decision-making autonomy can lead to more significant chances for corruption. Furthermore, the more robust connections between the police and the community can lead to increased crime and unethical activities.
There is a strong connection between community policing and personal relationships, preferential treatment, and the establishment of corrupt networks in this type of law enforcement (Miller & Blackler, 2017). By encouraging law enforcement officers to engage with the community actively, the police department may develop a positive relationship even with the criminals. In such a scenario, when the criminals get reported to them, they can only part with some amount of money and then walk free, causing more threats in society. Besides, whenever government officials misuse power, it may be motivated by personal gain (Cordner, 2017). Therefore, all loopholes that can get certain people to get more connected to the law enforcement system, resulting in them paying their way out whenever they are required to face the law, should be closed. Consequently, citizens should be encouraged to provide evidence to law enforcement as a way of making their work easier.
While community policing encourages law enforcement officers to get more involved in the communities they serve, it can also bring a sort of discretion and favoritism in their encounters with members of the public. Another potential scenario is that law enforcement can begin to select sides based on their race, ethnicity, friendship, and family relationships. They can be perceived to be on their side, indicating that they will support them, which is detrimental to law enforcement (Dunn et al., 2016). Notably, as aforementioned, Police officers are entitled to serve all people in society without any form of discrimination. But due to racism, some police officers may view other members of the community as inferior and hence end up overlooking them; they may favor the ones they regard as their equal. Understandably, such acts may promote inequality in law enforcement and, to some extent, lead to extrajudicial killings of certain groups of citizens.
There is little to dispute that favoritism enhances the feeling of resentment among certain members of the community who feel overlooked. Even if one does not fall victim, witnessing law enforcement officers showing bias in their work may cause uncalled-for resentfulness. Such incidences trigger bitterness between community members and law enforcement officers, resulting in a lack of trust (Cordner, 2017). When the community lack trust in law enforcement, the chances are high that they may not see the sense of sharing intelligence or any information about criminal activities with the officers. Notably, it should be a common practice in community-based policing for the members of the public to notify law enforcement of anything that helps prevent crime. For instance, a member should not hide his brother or sister who engages in terrorism.; openness should be their guide. As such, criminal cases can only increase whenever members of the society fail to collaborate with law enforcement, making the community a hard place to live in. Furthermore, favoritism can result in a loss of respect between law enforcement officers and other community members, making their mutual collaboration difficult.
Additionally, community policing is associated with a significant increase in the discretionary authority granted to law enforcement officers. In this way, they may be tempted to use force beyond the scope of the power, which will be detrimental to the entire community (Cordner, 2017). Overuse of force by police officers in communities has been highlighted as a significant issue in recent Black Lives Matter protests. The campaign’s key objective has been seeing the police officers involved in such unwarranted murders held accountable. At the same time, they have served as a warning and awareness creation to the entire police department that every life is essential and it should treat all citizens as equals. Logically, not even a single black American can share any information with law enforcement officers if all they do is kill members of this community through such painful techniques. Although all police officers are authorized to use power if it is necessary to defend the law, their actions are not always justified (Cordner, 2017). When dealing with those who refuse to comply, the ethical dilemma that police officers face daily puts their lives in peril. If an officer misjudges how much force to use, it can lead to severe injury or even death of the officer in the vast majority of cases.
Officers have to deal with ethical dilemmas such as the need to behave impartially. Such a form of oath has several drawbacks in the actual world. Native and small-town law enforcement agency, which deals with the same crowds of people regularly, may not always be able to act objectively (Dunn et al., 2016). Real-world instances comprise law enforcement officers who know the locations of nearby drug dens but lack the necessary evidence to bring a case against the establishments in question. Therefore, the officer must adhere to law enforcement rules, but they also get constrained in their ability to implement the law. In this case, it is evident that there is a need for reforms in law enforcement that can make the work of the officers easier. There should never exist a scenario where an officer identifies certain individuals as criminals, but the outlined prosecution guidelines fail to get such criminals to jail. In this case, also, law enforcement officers should be equipped with the state of the art tools of work so that their safety may be guaranteed.
Therefore, the primary goal of community policing should be to bring police officers closer to the people they serve and strengthen the public’s faith in the police department. If this is done, the police may solve crimes more effectively and lessen the frequency of crimes (Dunn et al., 2016). In this regard, it can bring some ethical issues to the attention of the police department while serving to eliminate and insulate the department from unethical activities of members of the community. It accomplishes this by providing incentives for law enforcement officers to be accountable in the community, causing them to believe that they are responsible for anything in that neighborhood. As a result, they refrain from engaging in unethical behavior as they are mirrors of the community. They are the individuals upon whom community members obtain assistance when faced with such difficulties as domestic violence, accidents, theft, kidnapping, and even general conflicts.
Generally, the relationship between law enforcement officers and members of the community has witnessed some significant issues for long. Incidences such as the painful death of a black American (George Floyd) under the knee of a white police officer have brought the law enforcement department to the light. Discussions have been carried out in every corner of the country and even the world on how police officers can maintain healthy relations with the people they are entitled to serve. However, all suggestions and recommendations point to community-based policing, which is the collaboration between the community, organizations within the community, and the police that identify and solve community problems. Community policing comprises two complementary components: Problem-solving and community partnership. The former involves identifying and solving problems that may trigger crime risks while the latter involves collaborating to find solutions to community problems that may not necessarily entail crime. For this poilicng to work effectively, the law enforcement officers must embrace fairness and justice in all their operations — they must implement laws fairly. Secondly, they should not be quick to apply force when dealing with the general public; to them, force should come as a last resort. Thirdly, the citizens should make it a habit to avoid disorder and crime. Upon adhering to these principles, law enforcement officers and the general public can proactively work in partnership towards achieving a common goal — preventing crime and addressing crime-related problems. As such, although traditional policing is still in use, community policing is the new trend and is characterized by many concepts that are overall relatively better.
References
Cordner, G. (2017). Police culture: Individual and organizational differences in police officer perspectives. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management.
Dunn, K. M., Atie, R., Kennedy, M., Ali, J. A., O’Reilly, J., & Rogerson, L. (2016). Can you use community policing for counter-terrorism? Evidence from NSW, Australia. Police Practice and Research, 17(3), 196-211.
Fisher-Stewart, G. (2016). Community policing explained: A guide for local governments.
Miller, S., & Blackler, J. (2017). Ethical issues in policing. Routledge.
Miller, L. S., Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. M. (2013). Community policing: Partnerships for problem solving. Cengage Learning.
Skogan, W. G., & Hartnett, S. M. (2019). Community policing. Police innovation: Contrasting perspectives, 27-44.
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