Mutual Respect In Philadelphia

In light of recent events that have caused rifts in relations between local law enforcement and communities have caused problems that needs to be addressed. To address this issue, the NYPD issued an executive order to establish a new unit called COP- Community Oriented Policing. The NYPD currently has Community Affairs division Bureau established to foster a positive police-community relations. However, it lacks the structure, staff and functions needed to work with community leaders and others to improve the community and relationship. The COP unit under the NYPD section is needed to create a viable community policing as well as working together for crime reduction in communities.

This program would be developed in a manner that the community can come and address the issues in their community with law enforcement, as well as get to know the officers patrolling their neighborhoods. This could show the community and the officers that there are no differences that can’t be solved with communication. A similar program has been used by the nearby department in San Jose. The program goal “is to help our residents learn about issues and challenges, share their ideas, and help propose collaborative solutions that can lead to long-term relationships between police officers and our community that are more trusting and productive for everyone.” (Newsroom,

But whether it’s Rockford or Spokane cities are struggling with violent crime, policing has become a trust problem. Cities have been experimenting with such high-profile ideas as CompStat, quality-of-life policing and predictive policing. We have come full circle now and police departments are revisiting community policing. Cities like Rockford hopes to embed more officers in troubled neighborhoods (Buntin

In our society today police brutality is a huge issue. Periodically in the news there are stories of police and their wrongful doing, and nine times out of ten they will get away with it. The government puts most of the money into jails, if they put more money into our educational system, particularly to the schools in low income communities. Then there would be less dropouts, gang activity etc. When hiring police officers, background checks should be thorough. Pay for officers should be higher.

Homelessness, mental health issues, domestic violence, and substance abuse are some of the calls police officers report to in different communities. Police officers are the first responders to any of these encounters and some officers are not trained properly to deal with these situations. Neighborhood disorder and quality of life problems should not be policed by police officers, in contrast the state should fund programs such as shelters, mental health clinics and recreational centers in which these people can turn to. Law enforcement’s job is to fight crime and protect its citizens. By adding more responsibilities just makes their job more difficult and may misinterpret situations that lead to numerous arrests. Neighborhood disorder and

"For example, in police-civilian interactions, members of the public tend to see the uniform and the badge rather than the individual behind them. However, studies show that police officers who are willing to take the time to show kindness, understanding and consideration when interacting with others--especially those who may be distrustful--will likely foster a more positive atmosphere" (Barker et al., 2008). This type of respectfulness goes a long way when officers are doing community service. For example, when officers participate in programs like D.A.R.E, they must show kindnesses when effectively communicating with groups of student and parents. In addition, they can also hold more community meetings. In order to accomplish this, local police in a community would do well to hold regular meetings in to talk about prevalent crimes and how to prevent them. Police officers need to be honest and clear, as well as kind, usually when they communicate with victims, as well as when communicating with those who break the law. Police officers need to be part of the community, and communication helps them achieve this.

The most promising activities that I found to be most beneficial to our community would be to establish a foot patrol program and police-school liaison programs. The foot patrol program has been implemented in several states and proven to be success. This will help our officers get to know the residents that they serve and begin to build a trust between the two. In Flint, Michigan the program showed to reduce fear of crime and create an optimistic awareness about the neighborhood and the officers patrolling (Miller, Hess, & Orthmann, 2014). While this can create a positive influence on the residents of the community and help reduce crime in neighborhoods, there could be an influx of crime with commercial properties like in Boston, Massachusetts

Having police officers patrol a certain area to prevent crimes from growing is beneficial to the communities safety. In addition, the community are the ones who are put at risk when there is a huge epidemic of crimes happening around them so having police focused on that area and working alongside citizens helps them build not only better relationships but also helps them keep them

The violence and police arrests records do not solve any problems to the people, it creates more problems to the community. Officers also have to be more educated and obtain a mandatory college degree before they get hired. We live in very dangerous times where police disorganization is always visible. Police abuse is a serious problem where excessive use of deadly force and physical force are very tragic. There is a lot of discriminatory patterns of arrests and the only organizations that benefit from this are the multi-billion dollar businesses from corrections and other private prison agencies. The most affected are our citizens, living in poverty.

The police could give back to the community in an apologetic way. When I say give back I mean like do fundraisers. I know that a fundraiser wouldn't make up for the brutality, but it’s a start. I also feel that us as the people can find it in our hearts to forgive. You could also do fundraisers to apply money to that community. Some communities are in need of help and that little ounce of money could make a big change.

Police have a big role to fill when trying to maintain peace in society. According to the National Institute of Justice, “Community Policing is a model that creates partnership with the community and addresses underlying problems (Pollock 185).” Without the partnership, the relationship between police officers and the community would be a bit complicated, especially when it comes to dealing with a diverse community. A diverse community is a community that has different kinds of race and different cultures.

I think that by gaining relationship with the law enforcement would improve the communications with the local community.

The resources needed by local jurisdictions to effectively police communities have been diminished. Foot patrols have high transaction costs to the community; higher responses times and they are less efficient covering large areas. However; by defining the engagement through community-policing, foot patrols allow agencies to become part of the community they serve. Through this social engagement, police departments are able to become part of the community fabric. The issue remains the allocation of funds to develop the relationship and maintain the critical component to policing-community relations as it requires significant expenditures and resources by local governments.

There is a perception of distrust between law enforcement and the community. This distrust stems directly from the dangerous words police use when communicating with the community. (Willis, 2015, p.) Simply choosing better words can help build relationships between law enforcement and the community. It is necessary for law enforcement to have trust with their community. There are many things that hinge on the police-community relationships, the ability of law enforcement to perform their duties, are the most important. Law enforcement must be willing to rely on the public to observe the law. They must always demonstrate absolute impartiality to the law.

Passion builds from awareness. My healthcare awareness during school made me passionate about the field of medicine. Working with my father, a physician, I traveled to rural health camps distributing free medicine. I witnessed firsthand, the complex issues involved and how doctors change lives with treatment and patient education. This exposure led me to Medical College where the problem-solving atmosphere in Internal Medicine excited me and sparked my interest to make it my career.