Community Policing Is Part of the Solution
By Mitchell Lowe
Mitchell Lowe is a partner with the Little Rock-based public affairs and lobbying firm of Capitol Advisors Group.
The phrase “community policing” is a relatively recent addition to the American lexicon. The concept, however, dates to pre-Victorian England, when Britain’s home secretary, Sir Robert Peel, who later became prime minister, oversaw the creation of London’s Metropolitan Police Department, which was as accountable to everyday citizens as it was to the ruling classes.
Dawned in uniforms that included tall wool hats and armed only with short clubs and whistles for calling reinforcements, Peel’s patrolmen (known as Bobbies, a term that has endured) walked regular beats and worked to gain the trust of the local citizens. Peel’s system was a success, and, soon after, many municipalities in America had created similar police forces.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues, such as crime, social disorder and fear of crime.
Perhaps the most famous practitioner of community policing — long before the phrase was coined — is Sheriff Andy Taylor, portrayed by Andy Griffith in the 1960s hit TV show “The Andy Griffith Show.” Sheriff Taylor understood the importance of being a part of his community. He deemed his role to be a solver of problems and, if necessary, an enforcer of laws. In each episode, more of the former meant less need for the latter.
The mutual respect between Sheriff Taylor and the citizens he served helped ensure that Mayberry’s high quality of life was maintained from week to week.
While policing in real-world America in the year 2015 is significantly more demanding and dangerous, the need for respect between law enforcement and citizen remains. While community policing is helpful in the quest to develop and maintain that mutual respect, the underlying issues that lead to disrespect must be addressed more directly. And, like so many other things, it starts in the home.
It should go without saying that every child should be taught at a young age the basic rules of discourse when dealing with police officers. Be respectful, answer questions truthfully and follow orders immediately.
Simply put, young people who have grown up without gaining a firm grasp of these realities have been ill served. They’re unprepared for the realities of the world in which we live and, quite possibly, have been set up to face harsh consequences.
Police are necessarily trained to react and to protect themselves. Often life and death decisions are made very, very quickly.
Police departments must be committed to doing their part in building and maintaining this mutual respect. While the vast majority of law enforcement professionals carry out their brutally difficult jobs in an admirable manner, police misconduct and malfeasance most definitely exists.
Police departments and their governing bodies must promptly weed out the bad apples that operate within their ranks. When appropriate, these bad apples must be prosecuted. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that everyone is subject to the same treatment in the eyes of the law.
Reaching a high level of mutual respect between police and citizen in America is a worthy goal. Unfortunately, it won’t happen overnight, and, equally as unfortunate, it’ll take a lot more than community policing to get us there.
The Effectiveness of Accurate Representation
By Peter L. Gess
Peter L. Gess is assistant professor of politics and environmental studies at Hendrix College. He holds a Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Georgia.
It has become impossible to open a news website or tune into the nightly news without encountering a headline related to a shooting by the police or other police-civilian incident.
Ferguson is well-known. About a year ago, Michael Brown, a black teenager, was shot dead by a white police officer. We also have heard and read about the chokehold death of Eric Garner in Staten Island; Sandra Bland’s apparent suicide in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas; and the fatal shooting of Samuel DuBose by a University of Cincinnati police officer.
Social media and smartphone cameras have shed new light on some of the most brutal police-civilian confrontations, as amateur video goes viral on the Internet.
Race is a factor. The Guardian reported earlier this summer that in 2015, black Americans are more than twice as likely to be unarmed when killed by police as white Americans. In a 2013 Gallup poll, 24 percent of young black men stated that they had been unfairly treated by police in the previous 30 days. Race and policing has become an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign.
But solutions to these problems do not come easy. Some have suggested that police officers be equipped with body cameras; others say a “demilitarization” of police forces should be a top priority. Whether it is the “war on drugs” or images of officers in body armor and riot gear, powerful, cultural symbols of the chasm between police and citizens abound.
One worthwhile goal is “representative bureaucracy.” Passive representation means the bureaucracy — in this case, the police department — mirrors its community in every way. So if Little Rock is about 42 percent black, according to the 2010 Census, that should suggest that so, too, is about 42 percent of the Little Rock Police Department. If the police department looks like the city, then it will act in the interests of its residents. Scholars have found empirical evidence that passive representation leads to this active representation.
One won’t find a police chief or mayor against a diverse police force. Police are more diverse than ever, with about 1 out of 4 officers belonging to an ethnic or racial minority. But the challenge remains to convince minorities to apply, especially in inner cities, where anti-police sentiments run high. Applicants need to know they will be respected and have equal opportunities for raises, promotion and leadership.
The events of the past year have created a focus on the benefits of “community policing.” Trust and mutual respect are critical to public safety. Community-policing concepts have been employed by various police forces for more than 150 years, and although no universal definition exists, common elements include building partnerships with citizens and citizen groups; utilizing foot patrols that assign officers to regular neighborhood beats; and decentralizing authority. Accountability to the citizens served becomes a top priority.
Measuring the effectiveness of community policing is difficult, as consistent structures and policies do not exist across police departments. But there are strong examples around the U.S. And trust must be rebuilt if we are going to curb the trend of negative police-citizen incidents.
On-the-Ground Context of Community Policing
By Kathryn Hazelett
Kathryn Hazelett served as policy director for Gov. Mike Beebe and for the Mike Ross for Governor campaign. You can find her current project at WeAreStillBlue.com.
When I start a column, I first think about definitions, context and concrete examples of the topic. Because this column topic was assigned, I seized the opportunity to ask a friend who is an active-duty police officer in a mid-sized metropolitan area for thoughts on community policing. (Said friend asked to remain anonymous.)
I hope this exchange, which was edited only for clarity and length, provides context from an on-the-ground perspective and leads you to ask additional questions about your community’s police force.
Q: What is your view of community policing?
A: Community policing works if you have the backing of city leaders who will fund it properly. Once in place, you have to have residents of those communities buy into the concept. On our force, resources have been diverted to higher-profile areas while community policing, on the whole, has taken a back seat. The chief has the final say where his personnel go, and he feels they are needed elsewhere. Bottom line: It would appear the chief doesn’t even buy off on community policing at this time.
Q: Does your department still practice any community policing?
A: Where manpower is available, we do have community policing. It still remains to be seen if it’s truly working, but in those areas where we’ve placed officers, crime is down because we are visible and talking to folks.
Q: You live in the same city where you work on the police force. Do you live in the neighborhood where you primarily patrol? Do most officers?
A: My neighborhood is in one of the districts that I could be assigned to, but usually I am assigned elsewhere. I would suppose that this is the case for most of the officers who reside in the city. The perceived effect is that, if I police the neighborhood I live in, I would know the neighbors and who belongs and who doesn’t. What’s really true for me is that I try not to bring my work home. I drive my own car and park in my garage; it’s unlikely that many of my neighbors even know that I am a police officer.
Q: Do you or your fellow officers participate in community forums? How do you get to know your patrol-area residents?
A: We are not required to and do not go to community meetings. Our division commanders handle those requirements and pass on the needs and concerns of the communities to us. The hard fact is, unless you’re on a shift where you can interact with people (I don’t have that ability 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.), you might see a person once when they call for service. After that, you’ll likely never encounter them again.
Q: Is the idea of “Officer Friendly” that many of us grew up with a thing of the past?
A: No, it’s not a thing of the past. Most officers deal with the people they come into contact with on a generally friendly basis. Everyone I come into contact with gets treated fairly until they have acted in a way that forces me to go up a level. I think police have gotten an enormously bad rap lately, but there are those officers, myself included, who daily strive to show that what you see in the news is not normal police behavior.