Trends in Policing

Defining the crime problem is a vital step in controlling crime. Crime is undoubtedly a significant and pricey societal problem but we cannot target the problem without first defining it. There is no one identical solution to crime, instead it is based on a piece by piece basis. Strategies to target crimes need to target larger geographical areas, sometimes entire states. In addition, for a strategy to be successful in controlling a crime it cannot be too vague or extremely specific to an index crime. An example of a crime a law should target is: drug sales in a problem neighborhood or rapes at a city park. –Chapter 1 Page

In addition, the success that has come from the implementation of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy only shows that in the future it will become more successful. This program has helped improve the residents’ confidence that the police are there to help combat crime, to ensure the community is a safe place to live as well as a reduction in major crimes. “Evaluations of the alternative policing strategy in Chicago show that from 1993 to 2002, the fear of crime went down by 20% among groups most fearful of crime and

Wilson and Kelling’s key idea is that disorder and the absence of controls leads to crime. Their solution is to crack down on any disorder using a twofold strategy. First an environmental improvement strategy that any broken window must be repaired immediately, otherwise more will follow and the neighbourhood will be on the slide. Secondly the police must adopt a zero tolerance policing strategy. Instead of merely reacting to crime, the must proactively tackle even the slightest sign of disorder, even if it is not criminal. This

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.

The first stage of the SARA model is scanning. Scanning means to identify the problem. “A problem is a set of harmful event in a community that people expect the police to address”. (Clark & Eck, 2014). Before we can develop a solution, first they need to have a problem to solve. Therefore when working on scanning, it is important for the police to find out the consequences of the problem and also how often this problem does happens. “There are six required elements of a problem in a community”. (Clark & Eck, 2014). The six elements include

Beginning in the 1990’s, crime numbers began to fall and and there are many explanations for the decrease in crime. To begin, the police began using new catching approaches by changing aspects such as an increase in enforcement of nuisance activities. Additionally, they began to invest in their technology and started to identify crime hot spots. The hot spots are where crime is found most often but never recognized.

It was modeled to combat the pervasiveness of gun-related youth homicide in the mid-1990s. The strategy of pulling levers involves the analytic approach of the S.A.R.A. model (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment) of problem solving. However, central to the paradigm is the strong incline to deterrence. Deterrence is not established under traditional law enforcement tactics but requires creative inter-agency alliance. The alliance involves both the public and private stakeholders.

Law enforcement agencies throughout the country look for ways to reduce response times in addressing citizens’ concerns and calls for service. In efforts to meet the demands of citizens wanting officers to respond to their being victimized, agencies are looking for alternative ways to prioritize calls needed for police to make the location requested by the citizen. The additional time that officers spend answering minor calls for service (alarms not monitored, thefts, burglary, barking dog etc.) the reduction of time police have accessible for pro-active problem solving. Although, the greater parts of dispatched calls have nothing to do with reportable wrongdoings, which demonstrate an over-dependence on the police, however responding to calls establishes a relationship between the citizen and officer. In addressing ways to minimize police response to minor calls, departments are using advance information technology to enhance ways citizens can report crime without the presence of an officer. Above all, people use online services to shop, pay bills and do their banking. Online reporting has made it easier for citizens to report crime faster, reducing time waiting for police to manually take the report. Additionally, citizens assessing the computerized systems create a service number which can be given to their insurance company.

The two most useful police tactics that need to be implemented in the Chicago Police Department are focused deterrence policing and hot spot policing. Focused deterrence policing focuses on bringing police and community groups together to signal major legal consequences of violence especially relating to a person's previous criminal record. Social services can also be offered to help someone stop living a dangerous lifestyle. Hot spot policing deploys police intelligently in specific areas with high crime rates which has a large impact on fighting crime and violence. This is an effective way to reduce crime without displacing it.

“Crime analysis has been defined as “a set of systematic, analytical process providing timely and pertinent information to assist operational and administrative personnel” (Peak, 2015, pp. 200). Also, there is “one tool that could be used for analyzing problems is the “problem-analysis triangle,” in which helps police officers visualize the problem and understand the relationship between the three elements of the triangle” (Peak, 2015, pp. 200). The three elements would be: “an offender: someone who is motivated to commit harmful behavior, a victim: a desirable and vulnerable target, and a location: although the victim and offender are not always in the same place at the same time; locations is discussed later” (Peak, 2015, pp. 200). Basically, this is the stage where law enforcement officials conclude to factor or issues that could be producing the crimes to take

Since the founding of this country, to the wild west, and up to the present, the agenda of the policing bodies have been clear: to uphold and enforce the laws of our society. Of course the way they do this today had undergone changes from the first police forces of early America, law enforcement has seen trends come and go.

Law enforcement officers use different styles of policing, such as problem-oriented policing, and community policing. Over the years officers have adapted more towards community based policing involving the CAPRA model, and the SARA model. The SARA model has been adopted by the RCMP, and proven to be very successful. In a news article by the daily mail, it states how a group of teenagers vandalized a car dealership, and what the owner of the dealership did instead of pressing charges (Blakeley, 2015). By using the SARA model individuals will be able to critically think, and analyze the problem, possibly leading to more than one positive solution.

The COP pilot program’s mission is to form an increased partnership with police and communities. Traditional policing alone is insufficient to deal with the many problems plaguing communities. Community residents as well can’t solely manage crime and disorder problems without police help.

A continuation of the POP program can be seen in the idea of hot spots. A hot spot in itself, is an area that “consumed a disproportionate amount of police time and effort.” (112) The idea of hot spots soon progressed to the idea of hot spot policing. Which is based on “the assumption that if the police direct focused, intensive efforts at the areas with high concentration of crime and calls for service they can reduce crime and disorder.” All while using the problem oriented policing model of SARA. Such as the experiment that Lowell, Massachusetts conducted. As a result of thirty percent of their crime came from hot spots around the city, they needed to come up with a plan to reduce those numbers. “In addition to traditional police enforcement

Community based policing is a style of policing that functions by forming strong relationships between the police and the community they serve. Police officers would focus on