Community Policing: Enhancing Quality and Safety of Neighborhoods With Public Participation - Research Paper

Introduction

Community policing refers to the collaboration between the police and the community to identify and solve community problems (U.S. Department of Justice, 2020). This model of security incorporates the public in being guardians of law and order, thus helping to enhance the quality and safety of neighborhoods. Security agencies are responsible for crime control and prevention. Members of the public then participate and assist in the process of problem-solving to make community policing a useful exercise. The inclusion of community members in matters of security helps in resource and support mobilization to solve problems and improve the quality of life. Communities are an essential part of crime prevention and the creation of vital neighborhoods. This partnership, however, requires creativity, energy, understanding, and patients of the people involved (Kappeler & Gaines, 2012). Despite the brilliance of establishing community policing, the idea faces the challenge of building trust and breaking down barriers of apathy before meaningful collaborations can be formed.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Newark Police Department Background

The Newark Police Department has a long history of policing that started in 1668 after people chose Thomas Johnson as the town constable (Newark Police Department, 2020). This event marked the first recorded act of police protection in the town. In 1836, the first Mayor of Newark was elected and established the City Watch among his first official acts (Newark Police Department, 2020). The role of the City's Watchmen was to conduct patrols in the streets and city. During this duty, the watchmen would apprehend and detain until morning, the offenders that had been nabbed disturbing the peace or suspicious persons found lurking in the streets. This security body later advanced with the supply of clubs to the watchmen and a distinguishing badge. The Police Department and Night Watch patrolled the streets as different entities until their merger in 1857 (Newark Police Department, 2020). The merger led to the formation of the Newark Police Department with a total expenditure of $21,920 (Newark Police Department, 2020).

Newark Demographics

According to Data USA (2019), Newark had a population of 282,102 people in 2018, a 1.07% decline from 2017. The median age of this population, according to the same source, was 33.7 and a median household income of $37,642, marking an increase of 7.04% from 2017. African Americans are the majority of people in Newark at 47%, followed by the Latino at 39.2%, and the Whites are at 8.88% of the population (Data USA, 2019). Newark's economy employs 129 thousand people, with the major industries being; healthcare, transportation, and construction. However, the highest paying industries in the area are; information, public administration, and finance. Some of the significant universities in Newark are; New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University-Newark, and Essex County College. The median property value in Newark is $251,800 (Data USA, 2019). This figure is 1.1 times higher than the national average, which lies at $229,700. The country also has an impressive health coverage whereby 83.7% of the population benefit from this service (Data USA, 2019).

Newark Community Policing Programs

Community policing seeks to establish a common ground between the police and the public. The disconnect that exists between these two groups makes security a challenge since there is poor communication. The public contains vital information, while the police have the resources to fight crime (Nalla & Newman, 2013). Bringing these assets together can form a powerful tool in the prevention and mitigation of crime in societies. Newark is an example of a place where the police and the community work in partnership to make the streets safer by curbing criminal activities. Also, the public experiences reduced fear of property crime since the security mechanism is sufficient. Community policing helps to improve police services since the police gain a better understanding of the priorities concerns of the locals (Palmiotto, 2011). Also, the level of satisfaction among the public escalates following the sound collaboration with the police to curtail crime. Therefore, community policing in Newark has helped to make the streets safer and improve the general security of the town.

Community Policing Center The Newark Police Department opened a community policing center on Main Street in 2017 (Shannon, 2017). This venue aimed to give the police home at the heart of downtown. Newark residents mingled with the police at this center while children scrambled to collect trading cards from the police. The point of the center was to provide a place where the community can interact with the police. Therefore, the center would serve to improve the already excellent relationship between the Newark community and the police. The site will play host to events like "Coffee with a Cop" while also being a place where people can go to report crimes or make inquiries. The idea of the community policing center was to make police approachable besides addressing specific disorder problems and crimes. Additionally, the center will bring the community and the police together, thus enhancing partnerships that will help to combat crime in Newark.

Trauma Training for the Police and Residents

One of the issues facing the working together between the police and communities is mistrust due to a history of cases of police brutality. Newark took to address this issue by having trauma training for both the police and citizens. According to Weichselbaum (2018), immersing the cops and citizens in uncomfortable truths about Jim Crow and slavery would help to ease tensions. During the training, the two groups would swap stories and ideas on their experiences. The residents were made to put themselves in cops' shoes while the police put themselves in residents' shoes. Progress reports indicated that there was a 20 percent drop in police-related complaints. The training helped the police to explain the difficulties of their job while the public expressed their sentiments concerning the cops. This form of unconventional training of police helps to break the barriers of mistrust and narrow the gap between the police and the communities they serve.

Community Policing Effectiveness

A review by Maximino (2015) on the impact of community policing established that overall the strategies have a positive effect on the trust in the police and citizen satisfaction. Community policing also contributed to a reduction in crime, meaning both literal and perceived safety had improved. Trauma-informed policing is a critical factor in building trust between the police and the community (Love-Craighead, 2015). The police need to have the ability to observe signs of trauma in victims and witnesses to aid with effective and swift processing of cases. These assessments demonstrate that the community policing initiatives at Newark have helped to improve the relationship between the police and the residents while also reducing crime in the area.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the mistrust between the public and the police is a significant impediment to the effectiveness of the work of the police to maintain law and order. In an environment where these two entities fail to work together, the police lack an understanding of the priorities of the community, thus address security ineffectively. However, community policing bridges these gaps and makes the cops approachable. The people get to communicate their concerns with the police, thus helping to fight crime and create a working relationship between the residents and the police.

References

Data USA. (2019). Newark, NJ, Demographics. https://datausa.io/profile/geo/newark-nj/Kappeler, V. E. & Gaines, L. K. (2012). Community Policing: A Contemporary Perspective. Routledge.

Love-Craighead, A. (2015, March 20). Building trust through trauma-informed policing. Vera. https://www.vera.org/blog/police-perspectives/building-trust-through-trauma-informed-policing

Maximino, M. (2015, March 11). Community-oriented policing strategies: Meta-analysis of law enforcement practices. Journalist's Resource.https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/the-impact-of-community-policing-meta-analysis-of-its-effects-in-u-s-cities/

Nalla, M. K. & Newman, G. R. (2013). Community Policing in Indigenous Communities. CRC Press

Newark Police Department. (2020). Our History. Retrieved from https://npd.newarkpublicsafety.org/about/historyPalmiotto, M. J. (2011). Community Policing: A Police-Citizen Partnership. Routledge.

Shannon, J. (2017, May 13). Newark opens community policing center on Main Street. Newark Post. https://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/newark-opens-community-policing-center-on-main-street/article_94911ec0-b840-5858-9ab2-c257791d8b83.html

U.S. Department of Justice. (2020). Understanding Community Policing: A Framework for Action. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/commp.pdf

Weicheslbaum, S. (2018, January 5). The City Trying 'Trauma Training' for Citizens - and Cops. The Marshall Project. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/05/01/the-city-trying-trauma-training-for-citizens-and-cops