Introduction
Community policing is believed to be the best method of regulating and controlling crime in society by effectively involving the community and all other important stakeholders in addressing the root causes of crime and hence obtaining long-term results rather than crime-fighting which is in most cases, not the best method. More understanding of community policing strategies, management, and implementation will be achieved through this paper.
Encouraging the new officers’ enthusiasm for community policing
The best method of encouraging the new officers is by improving the leadership and management of the police department. I would use the technique usually referred to as “management by walking around” whereby I would personally go to the field with the patrol officers as we share more about their worries, problems, and challenges as we serve the community together. I strongly think that the police commandant has the obligation of taking care of the officers on patrol and should support them by keeping close contact with them. This way, the young policemen will feel supported and motivated. A change of guard for the veterans to the different departments may also be a wise idea.
Blake as a candidate for mentoring the young policemen
Officer Blake though honest is not the best choice for the position of a mentor because he doesn’t support the community policing policy. He is a conservative who believes in the traditional crime attack model, wants to revert to the old model of using firearms, and believes that community policing is social work. He uses intimidation as a way of crime control instead of creating friendship between the community and the police force. Certainly, he is the worst candidate for such a task. How Officer Blake who is entrenched in crime-fighting model of law enforcement affects the public image of the police department
Officer Blake drives slowly and stares at the young men making them afraid of the police. They look down and wait till he is gone then continue playing soccer. They see the police as a public enemy always suspecting them of wrongdoing, they cannot trust the police with their problems they may be seeing the police as incompetent since they are supposed to protect them and not treat them as prime suspects.
Community policing that would enhance effective communication and cultural awareness
Patrol cars create a physical communication barrier between the police and the community. The police need to physically interact with the community members in a friendly environment where they can express their needs. They need to supplement the patrol cars with police on walk or horse patrols where the police can have a one-to-one interaction with the community. In this way, the community will develop a bond with the police and they will feel free to express their problems willingly and openly offer their hand in assisting the police on their duties.
Addressing the issue of gratuities
I believe that community policing is the duty of the police and the community has the right to police care and protection and as such any gratuities paid to the police for services to the community would undermine the objective of community policing thus I would discourage it. However,r the police staff who demonstrate excellence in community policing would be rewarded to motivate them.