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The Effectiveness of Community Policing Essay

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The Effectiveness of Community Policing

Introduction Throughout the years, community policing has been an effective tool to help and protect citizens in the United States . Community policing involves people within the community to help and support solutions to crime-related problems and assist people with special needs.
Community policing also inlcudes the ongoing evaluation of police effectiveness. According to
Lord, Kuhns, & Friday (2009), “Community-oriented policing is now considered an integral part of professional policing in the USA” (p. 574). In order to better understand on how community policing is a pivotal part of effective policing, this paper will examine 2 articles that will discuss the evaluation and …show more content…

24).

Preserving Community Policing in a Recession The second article describes on how Santa Cruz, California, Police Department is trying to preserve the community policing program in a recession. According to Friend & Martinez
(2010), “Widespread budget cuts have forced governments and law enforcement agencies to do more with less. Many police departments have had to lay off officers, and some have eliminated all prevention and education programs. During such tough periods, officials often find it easy to go after programs that consume time and resources - even if they yield tangible results.
Yet, even with a need to slash budgets, an important question remains. Can law enforcement agencies really afford to cut community policing programs? For the Santa Cruz, California,
Police Department (SCPD), which has less than 100 sworn officers in a town of 56,000 residents, an established community policing program saved the agency from having to fully lay off officers for the first time in over 140 years. Fortunately, For the Community Oriented Policing
Services (COPS) program, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded over $1 billion in Recovery
Act money intended for hiring, retaining officers, encompassing a 3-year funding mechanism to insulate agencies against further budget cuts.” (p. 10).
Community Relationships
“For the SCPD, community policing is crucial to keep. Community policing focuses on fostering prevention, building

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