Essay - Identifying Effective Approaches to Establishing a Community Policing Program in...

Identifying Effective Approaches to Establishing a Community Policing Program in an American Municipality Today

Introduction

***** a law enforcement and community relations perspective, it would just seem to make good sense to place as many police officers "on the beat" in any given commun*****y and this, in fact, has proven ***** be the case in cities across the country. Police officers ***** bicycles, all-terrain vehicles and horseback are becoming an increasingly common sight in the nation's park, beaches ***** public areas as well as homeland security has assumed an *****creasingly important role in ***** enforcement in post-September 11, 2001 America. Unfortunately, ***** some cases, community policing initiatives have met with a wide range of obstacles and constraints to their implementation from both external ***** internal sources. To this end, this paper provides an overview ***** community ***** programs in ***** municipalities in general, ***** an emphasis on the best approach ***** implementation of such programs in particular, for communities that currently do not have ***** programs in place. Relevant recommendations in this regard will be followed by a detailed rationale for the selection of *****se as being the superior approach; a summary of ***** research will be provided in the conclusion.

***** of ***** Literature

***** and Overview

Based on media accounts, it would seem ***** the law enforcement ***** across the country has recognized ***** need for a more effective approach to policing a ***** range of urban spaces, and community ***** initiatives ***** been identified as such an approach. According to *****e set ***** observers, "A revolution is taking ***** in policing that h***** important implications for planners. T********** revolution is called community policing, and it brings ***** work into a ********** traditionally inhabited by community planners. ***** departments across the United States are creating ***** policing units and charging them with improving the quality of life in low-and moderate-income neighborhoods" (Rohe, Adams & Arcury, 2001, p. 78). In fact, by ***** year 2000, over 90 percent of *****n police departments had received some type of federal resources to implement community policing *****. There remains much to be discovered though about the types and kinds ***** policing being practiced in ***** urban United States today, though (Mann*****g, 1992). For example, a wide range of collective policing techniques can be found in Ameri***** cities today, ranging from informal neighborhood watches and street patrols to *****ficial, state-sponsored programs that are intended to improve ***** and unite citizens and the police (Rohe et al., 2001).

At its most basic level, ***** ***** appear to represent a sound way of approaching any ***** enforcement initiative. For *****, in his essay, "Bowl*****g Alone, Policing Together," Klineberg suggests that, "Collective ***** ***** appeal to *****cans because they are perfect mechanisms for reconciling the app*****ntly contradic*****ry desires for private security ***** collective belonging that lie at the heart ***** American political culture" (p. 78). Unfortunately, in many such *****, *****se ***** were either intentionally designed to - or were at least *****erceived to be -