Problem-Oriented Policing Essay

Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.

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.

Although many may find community policing and problem-oriented policing to fall in the same category, there is (surprisingly) a difference between the two. For one, community policing has many definitions. For some, it means instituting foot and bicycle patrols and doing acts pertaining to the ideal bond between police officers and their community. While for others it means maintaining order and cleaning up neighborhoods in desperate need of repair (Dunham & Alpert, 2005). However, an idyllic definition of community policing is altering the traditional definition of crime control to community problem-solving and promising to transform the way police do their job. Within the past two decades, there has been much research on community

Problem-oriented policing presents an alternative approach to policing that has gained attention in recent years among many police agencies. Problem-oriented policing grew out of twenty years of research into police practices, and differs from traditional policing strategies in four significant ways.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the three different policing strategies known as, broken windows, zero tolerance, and problem oriented policing. Each of these strategies have both their pros and cons throughout this paper I will be describing each of these strategies along with discussing a few articles in relation to these strategies. In light of the recent tension between law enforcement and the community, specifically minorities ill also be discussing how these strategies have either helped or hurt communities.

Problem oriented policing is a method of policing designed to focus on areas of increased criminal activity or hot spots. This method is executed by analyzing crime data, searching for solutions, implementing policies, and deploying resources which results in a reduction of crime. Herman Goldstein, a professor at University of Wisconsin- Madison, developed this method in 1979. This method of policing is one of the most widely used and accepted techniques used in policing today (Weisburb, Telep, Hinckle, and Eck, 2010).

     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 relationships between an officers and civilians hold significant important in all aspects of the community, unfortunately it is not focused on much. Great emphasis should be put on the communication and interaction between police officers and civilians. Problem Oriented Policing is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing more effective response strategies. Problem Oriented Policing originated from the works of professor Herman Goldstein from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This policing strategy targets the long-term crime and disorder problems, rather than the short term ones.

This type of policing suggests that the presence of a police vehicle in the community will deter crime (Department of Justice, 2015). Traditional policing does not require direct communication between the community members and the police officers. They officers are not required to interact with the community in order to discover and resolve underlying problems. They are expected to show upon when the community asks for assistance and make a presence in order to deter further crime. The officers typically wrote tickets and presented criminals with fines in an attempt to deter them from further participating in criminal activity. The officers were not expected to play the role of a mediator during a dispute. There was also no follow up with the members upon a resolution. This approach can be seen as more aggressive than assertive.

The model that is given in the article written by Rachel Boba and John Crank provides a framework that can be implemented into any community when the lower levels informs the high levels of the chain of command to reduce crime. This article gives the idea that if we focus on the chain of command that police officers must go through when assessing a specific problem then we will see an effective use of Problem-oriented policing. The approach of Problem-oriented policing gives police departments and agencies a way to be more effective in focusing the underlying problems.

Community policing is a problem-oriented approach to policing. It focuses on a more preventative measure in creating safer communities rather than rapid response to 911 calls which do nothing in preventing crime. It involves citizens in conjunction with police officers on the beat working together toward a safer community. The demands on police officers are many and can become overwhelming and when funding is inadequate, their abilities and involvement with the community is limited. The logical solution towards a safer community is to incorporate community policing.

Community-oriented policing is easily linked to the “broken window” theory invented by well-known police theorist James Q. Wilson, which holds that simply fixing broken windows, improving lighting and cleaning up an area that is associated with high crime has a much greater impact on reducing crime and the opportunity to commit crime than merely assigning more police personnel to the area. By fixing these “broken windows,” whatever they may be, the community slowly regains pride in living in the area. As a result, citizens who feared the streets begin to come out and use them again, reinforcing the community’s support for the police and community-oriented policing. In the past several years, many communities have experienced tremendous benefits from community-oriented police programs. (RURAL)

Among the main objectives of the law enforcement agencies is to maintain professionalism when dealing with dissatisfied citizens. Citizens expect a lot from the policing agencies as far as presence, reasonable rapid response and neighborhood visibility are concerned. While the policing agencies may have similar wishes, staffing, and resource allocation become the major hindrance (Hoover, 2014). This leads to another challenge, which is the choice of policing strategy to suit a given crime. For instance, using patrols as a specialized service has been shown to work well, but it is a slow model, meaning it can’t be applied in urgent situations (Hoover, 2014).

Community policing has been one of the most popular programs in police departments not only all over the United States, but also throughout the world. More and more departments are implementing community policing, team policing, problem-oriented policing, neighborhood- oriented policing, or other similar programs as we speak. Yes, the term "community policing" does sound very attractive to most citizens and many officers, but the important question is whether the programs are effective or not in the communities in which these departments have implemented community policing.

Problem oriented policing (POP) and Community Orientated Policing (COP) are often used interchangeably but are actually different. Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving identifies, analyzes, and addresses community problems at the source. POP uses the philosophy of COP as the driving force. POP has police examine the root causes of frequent incidents in crime and disorder. Herman Goldstein coined the term Problem Oriented Policing in 1979 out of frustration with that times current preferred model of policing. POP recognizes that incidents (especially repeat ones) are often symptoms of a deeper problem. A key component of POP is S.A.R.A. The four-step process involves scanning for problems. Analysis of the seriousness of the problem and all the causes of the problem. Response is searching for the most effective way to deal with the problem. Assessment is sometimes over looked, but it is essential to know if the response was effective in dealing with the problem.