Essay Sample on Maximizing Law Enforcement Performance Through Personnel Management

Introduction

Personnel management is a crucial factor that can help stakeholders and organizations in the field of law enforcement to attain their long-goals as well as achieving operational sustainability. According to Oliver (2008), the primary aim of effective personnel management in law enforcement is to make a positive contribution to the profitability and sustainability of an organization by proper management of its human resources, which consist mainly of employees. Properly managed law enforcement professionals, such as police officers, play a vital role in promoting peaceful coexistence among community members by ensuring that every person abides by the existing laws. Personnel management is also crucial in the achievement and maintenance of high morale among law enforcement officers and employees on the organization by securing and promoting better human relations (Jones, Ruddell, & Summerfield, 2019). This paper provides a comprehensive discussion of different issues associated with law enforcement personnel management.

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Ethical Problems Associated with Community Police Officers

Community police officers pose significant ethical problems not only to the law enforcement organization but also to the people they serve at the grassroots level (Waddington, 2007). First, police officers must remain impartial throughout their duty. It is unethical for police officers to hold grudges towards community members, serve people with prejudice, or show any political affiliations (Bayerl, Karlovic, Akhgar, & Markarian, 2017). However, some police officers face problems, especially when working with their family members, their spouses, and colleagues to the extent that they may give them preferential treatment over the rest. Secondly, police officers face ethical problems regarding temptations from community members who may even bribe them to receive privileged treatment over others (Jones et al., 2019). Lastly, police officers face intimidation from various groups of citizens to the level of using extreme force as counterstrategies (Oliver, 2008). Sometimes community police officers shoot and kill such citizens.

Impact of Changing Police Management Styles on the Police-Community Relationship

Research indicates that changing the police management approach can impact the relationship between police officers and the community in different ways. This influence depends on the approach taken by the police (Yuksel & Tepe, 2013). For instance, the relationship between the police officers and the community can improve and become mutual if the style taken is interactive and ensures continuous stakeholder engagement. Using a democratic and interactive approach to management is crucial in making sure that community members feel valued and take part in making critical decisions about their security (Bayerl et al., 2017). However, the use of a dictatorial approach can worsen the relationship between police and the community and, in turn, increase the rate of crime in the target region.

Police Officers' Roles in the Context of Community Policing

According to Waddington (2007), police officers perform diverse roles following the shift towards community policing. First, these officers conduct routine patrol in the community by using various means, such as walking on foot, vehicles, motorbikes, and horses. Patrol is crucial because it allows police officers and the community members to not only interact but also exchange ideas necessary for promoting peaceful coexistence (Yuksel & Tepe, 2013). Secondly, police officers serve as communication agents who collect vital information regarding the criminal and security status of the community and sharing it with their managers. Effective communication is crucial in understanding the prevalence and incidence rates of criminal and security issues in the grassroots before developing appropriate counterstrategies (Jones et al., 2019). Lastly, police officers often evolve into crime prevention experts in the community by developing and implementing various programs aimed to promote security at the grassroots level.

Services to Help Citizens to Improve Crime Prevention in the Community

There are multiple services that the government and other legal stakeholders can provide in the community to help its citizens improve crime prevention (Waddington, 2007). First, the government should build more crime prevention centers in the community, such as police stations, to help in handling various criminal issues. Secondly, the management of these crime prevention and control centers should have the power to recruit adequate police officers to assist in fighting all forms of criminal activities in the community (Bayerl et al., 2017). Lastly, it is critical to set up more neighborhood watch services to help in the patrol and information collection process.

Best Practices for Implementing Additional Community Services

There are various strategies that legal stakeholders need to undertake to implement additional community services to effectively prevent all forms of criminal activities (Jones et al., 2019). First, the government should focus on creating awareness and educating the community on the importance of taking part in crime prevention programs. Secondly, it is critical to recruiting more community volunteers, and incentivizing them can be a crucial step in motivating citizens to be vigilant and report all forms of suspicious activities. Lastly, the government should provide additional training to improve the skills, experience, and knowledge of the police officers and volunteers (Yuksel & Tepe, 2013). Practical training is also crucial in empowering officers to ensure maximum crime prevention and control in the community.

How to Improve Community Watch to Prevent Crime within a Community

Community watch is a typical crime watch movement consisting of a highly-organized group of civilians committed to preventing all forms of crimes and vandalism activities in a particular neighborhood (Oliver, 2008). Community watch plays a vital role in the process of patrolling, identifying, and reporting all issues that may transform into criminal activities. However, various strategies can help in improving this critical movement to enhance their commitment and overall role in crime prevention. First, it is essential to provide continuous training for members of the community watch to improve their competence in terms of skills, knowledge, and experience for effective prevention of crimes. Secondly, community watch group members should receive monthly remunerations to empower and motivate them to remain devoted to preventing criminal activities in their residential areas (Jones et al., 2019). Lastly, community watch members should get an opportunity to benchmark and interact with professional police officers to understand how to prevent all forms of crimes.

Conclusion

Effective personnel management remains a vital component in controlling crimes in contemporary communities. People working in modern legal institutions, including police units and departments, require appropriate management to remain committed to preventing crimes. Therefore, personnel management in law enforcement ensures that police officers feel valued and enhance their overall commitment to collaborating with community members to strengthen security.

References

Bayerl, P. S., Karlovic, R., Akhgar, B., & Markarian, G. (2017). Community policing - A European perspective: Strategies, best practices and guidelines. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Jones, N. A., Ruddell, R., & Summerfield, T. (2019). Community policing: Perceptions of officers policing indigenous communities. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 61(1), 41-65. https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/cjccj.2017-0060.r2.

Oliver, W. (2008). Community-oriented policing. A systemic approach to policing (4th Ed). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Waddington, P.A.J. (2007). Community policing. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 1(2), 129-131. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/policing/article/1/2/129/1566111.

Yuksel, Y. & Tepe, F. (2013). Citizen satisfaction with police and community policing. European Scientific Journal, 9(14), 29-48. Retrieved from https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/1068/1102.