Briana Manning
Criminal Justice 190
Issue Paper
12/18/2014
Ever since the 1990’s there has been a decrease in crime. Although, there are many plausible reasons for the decrease in crime such has employment rates, age, economic improvement, or culture variation. However, two other factors play a part in the crime decrease such as a result of better policing methods. Crime prevention programs have been developed and used all over the United States. Over the years, these different prevention programs help contribute to crime decrease. They also have been a great success in the communities. Another reason may be a result of the increase in incarceration and education on crime since the 1990’s. Although, they might not be the main reasons for the decrease in crime but they certainly play a part.
Explanations for the Decline
Improvement in Policing Strategies
There are different types of crime prevention programs. Community based crime prevention is one of them. This type of prevention program involves the community helping take initiative in preventing crime in their communities. The main purpose of community policing is to of course prevent crime, but they also want to build a relationship with the community. Law enforcement officers are very fond of the method of policing. The community and law enforcement haven’t had the best relationship. As well as they are seen as the bad guy, which causes people to think badly of law enforcement. However, community policing allows law
Community policing could possibly be called the new orthodoxy of law enforcement in the United States. It has become an increasingly popular alternative to what many police administrators recognized as the failure of traditional policing to deal effectively with street crime, especially crimes of
The Community Policing era has been one of the contemporary police activities in the last 30 years. It is more of a decentralized approach to reducing crime by involving the same officer in the same community on a long term basis, so residents will develop trust and then provide information and assistance to the officer. Community Policing does not replace motorized patrol or other police tactics but instead compliments them with community partnership and problem solving (Bailey, 2011).
The 1980s and early 90s were home to an extreme wave of criminal activity that swept across much of the country. The dramatic uptick in crime can largely be attributed to the spread of the crack-cocaine epidemic and subsequent “War on Drugs.” New York City, for example, suffered from 2,605 murders and 208,813 burglaries in 1990, at the height of the violence . Much of this criminal activity centered around and affected the poorest individuals in those communities – which often included minorities.
Community Policing took a different perspective on crime than August Vollmer. It shows that even though police officers are trained and respond to crimes on time, it doesn’t effect the crime rates. In the past foot-patrol was in place but it quickly failed due to poor management and not enough funds for the program (Bohm & Haley, 2014, Pg. 147). Community Policing was an idea to form a bond between the police and the citizens. If the police paid more attention to the minor problems in
Community policing has evolved to be the most used strategy for policing. “It is an approach to crime detection and prevention that provides police officers and supervisors with new tools for addressing recurrent problems that plague communities and consume a majority of police agency time and resources” (Peak, 2012, 65). It has been defined by various people differently. But all the definitions have similar principles (Chappell, 2009). They focus on proactive problem solving and create relationships with the community to address any issue that may arise. Community policing is a combination of client-oriented and problem-oriented policing.
Law Enforcement officers have one of the most critical jobs in the United States. Their lives are always on the line and they are of high regards. This means they cannot fail! The results of their jobs do not only depend on their actions but also on the people. What this means is the community has a huge role when it comes to solving crime. Though many people may not believe it, they are the key to a successful crime prevention community. The people of the United States don’t really understand both the positive and negative effects that community policing actually brings. Some may say it is very dangerous based on their experiences. Others may say it’s the best way to do away with crime. Today the two will be compared and put to test by true officers serving our country. The facts will be stated and questions will be answered. Let’s take a look at what community policing is really all about!
Community policing is one method that police forces use to enhance public safety. According to the textbook Race and Crime, “It [community policing] was touted as having benefits over the traditional policing strategy because it is a proactive approach that
The chapter goes on to overview the crime crisis happening the United States in the 1980s through the 1990s. After exploring possible causes of the problem and how bad everything has gotten, the authors go on to explore possible solutions to the crime epidemic. The solutions are quite varied, well thought out, and are supported with statistical facts. For example in talking about the effect of gun buyback programs and their effect on homicide: “Given the number of handguns in the United States and the number of homicides each year, the likelihood that a particular gun was used to kill someone that year in 1 in 10,000. The typical gun buyback program
There are several law enforcement agencies that have incorporated community-oriented policing programs as a part of their philosophy. The key element to community policing is crime prevention. Memphis police department and Pasadena police department have formed partnerships with their communities to help in reducing recidivism. Each of these agencies has several community policing programs that they have established to improve the quality of life for their citizens. Memphis and Pasadena have a program that is targeted for juveniles. Memphis’s is a Community Outreach Program (C.O.P.) that was developed to reduce juvenile violence. Pasadena’s came up with the diversion program,
In chapter 4 the chapter considers a variety of possible explanations for the significant drop in crime and crime rates that occurred in the 1990s. Based on articles that appeared in the country’s largest newspapers, the authors compile a list of the leading, commonly offered explanations. The next step is to systematically examine each explanation and consider whether available data support the explanation. What the authors, in fact, demonstrate is that in all but three cases–increased reliance on prisons, increased number of police, and changes in illegal drug markets–correlation was erroneously interpreted as causation and in some cases, the correlation wasn’t even that strong.
Community policing was defined as “police officers working with community members to address the causes of crime and to prevent crimes from occurring, rather than just responding to crimes after they have occurred.” Officers and the community benefitted with improved attitudes
The decline in violent crime is more attributable to demographic changes than to enforcement efforts. Most of the decline in crime results from forces beyond the control of the criminal justice systems. Reiman also feels that we could reduce crime if we wanted to do so, and that our excuses are not really answers to the problem, but merely excuses to explain why the system fails. We know the causes of crime—poverty, prison, and drugs—yet we do nothing to change how these things operate, such as banning guns and decriminalizing drugs.
First, Community policing aims to broaden the function of the police. According to Gaines and Kappeler (2003), the police must move away from their traditional role as crime fighters. They should incorporate a much broader role that uses fear reduction and order maintenance. Gaines and Kappeler (2003) identify prior research that has shown that crime as a product of social conditions. These social conditions can be manipulated and changed by the quality of life and social conditions in an area. So in affect, the police cannot actually fight crime, they can really only fight the conditions that cause crime by maintaining order, and therefore “bettering” the social conditions in a community. As for the concept of fear reduction, Gaines and Kappeler (2003) point out the fact that fear has a far worse effect on a community than does a crime rate. The fear of crime causes people to stay in their homes, takes away commerce in an area, and causes psychological affects on people. Gaines and Kappeler further their finding here by identifying a little known fact-more often than not, people’s fear of crime is not related to the crime rate in their area. Many programs that promote fear reduction also lead to the second step of community
The criminal justice system is an essential aspect of American society as well as the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The purpose of laws is to protect society from harm, ensure everyone’s safety, and equally treated. The criminal justice system works to protect the innocent and punish the guilty without violating the rights the criminal suspect to avoid any injustices. As society evolves the criminal justice system needs to evolve so it is important to create new laws to keep up with the evolution and new trends. As new trends and contemporary issues develop in society, they can have a direct impact on the different functions of the criminal justice
The focus of this paper will be based upon different crime prevention strategies implemented by members of the communities, local and government authorities.