Community Policing Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Community Policing Law - Essay Example Stories from Stockton, California, Madison, Washington and other places have been pregnant with dire predictions of rising crime and, concurrently, shrinking law enforcement budgets and manpower. One possible solution to these problems can be found in what is known as ‘community policing’. By no means a new concept, it is one which could improve a given community’s relationship with its local law enforcement agencies. Community policing is, in essence, a collaboration between the police and the community that identifies and solves community problems. With the police no longer the sole guardians of law and order, all members of the community become active allies in the effort to enhance the safety and quality of neighborhoods. Community policing has far-reaching implications. (Understanding 1994, vii) In the nineteenth century, the first modern police departments, first in the United Kingdom and then in the United States, were drawn from the ranks of the citizenry and had close ties with the geographic areas in which they worked and patrolled. By the beginning of the twentieth century this began to change. â€Å"Researchers have suggested that the reform era in government, which began in the early 1900’s, coupled with a nationwide move toward professionalization, resulted in the separation of the police from the community† (Understanding 1994, 5-6).