By Brenda Thompson


Community policing has been applauded for enhancing security in neighborhoods and reducing tensions between law enforcers and ordinary citizens. Its effectiveness depends on how well it is planned and organized in a particular neighborhood. Effective Community Policing Programs should ensure that they meet the following, among other conditions that have been deeply researched and ascertained to deliver results.

Trust is the glue that enables police and ordinary people to work together. A person believes that his or her issue will be addressed once it is reported to the police. Police stop treating people with suspicion leading to altercations. People trust the police with information that would otherwise endanger their lives. Police also trust that the information passed to them by members of the public will be credible and help them maintain law and order.

Align the policies of your program with values of your community. Each neighborhood is unique. It values certain routines and levels of engagement. Officials should help officers understand local cultures and traditional values. Police should know issues to intervene and those that are solved locally. This knowledge helps them to understand a neighborhood better. However, these values should not violate national norms or be too extreme that they endanger the lives of other people.

Technology is at the center of any neighborhood policing initiative. People have cameras and can call police in an instant. They also want conversations and engagements with police recorded as proof and to justify their actions. Police officers are also required to keep their body and dashboard cameras rolling. Such technology simplifies resolution of cases and enhances trust because no one will claim discrimination.

Priority needs to be given to engagement with the people in the area. Engagement helps law enforcement officers to appear like ordinary members of the area. They will not be regarded as any superior or inferior. Police and other law enforcers also begin to see residents as part of their lives. This creates a great deal of cohesion and builds a society of shared values. The dignity of all members of this neighborhood will be preserved.

Priority should go into awareness creation and training. People must know their role in keeping the society they live in safe. Police should also understand the rights of citizens and responsibility of a law enforcer in any situation. It means that each knows his or her boundary. Solving problems will be simplified and de-escalation of issues will be easier.

While police are integrated into the society and its programs, they should be accorded the dignity they deserve. Do not put them at risk through injuries or make false alarms. While you are supposed to regard each other with mutual respect, there is a level where the policeman has the final say. This policeman is not answerable to the people but to law and his superiors.

The basics of effective community policing initiative are to address local social issues. It is the responsibility of people and the police to actualize these programs for mutual benefit. When each of these entities plays his or her role effectively, neighborhoods become safer and police officers enjoy their work.




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