Community Policing Philosophy Essay

There are a number of police officers and police departments that employ the community policing philosophy in order to help members of the community that they serve daily. One example of a police department employing the community policing philosophy would be the Columbia, South Carolina Police Department. They feel that because of the many issues around the country today has brought policing issues to the forefront of the public dialogue and has created an unlike of trust between the community and police (columbiapd.net. n.d.). Unfortunately, this is not something that just started but has been going on for years. Therefore, the department has found themselves with a critical opportunity to engage with the local community, government officials as well as law enforcement counterparts in order to advance public safety and their profession (columbiapd.net. n.d.). Furthermore, they have taken advantage of the opportunity to be a part of the national conversation about community-police engagement as well as criminal justice reform and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) because they feel that by doing this it will make the communities and officers of Columbia safer and make them more professional for years. The next department is the Chester, South Carolina Police Department and as its stated in the departments mission statement that they are community oriented, they work respectfully with the community they serve in order to provide exemplary services to their citizens and visitors as well as work to preserve the peace while providing a safe environment for all persons (chestersc.org. n.d.). They are also sensitive to the need of their citizens, by being community problem solvers and assertive in their approach to crime prevention (chestersc.org. n.d.). The department also has a Citizens ride-a-long program that allows a person to go out and ride a few hours with an officer to obtain a better understanding of their job and to build a better community relationship between the officers and community (chestersc.org. n.d.). The final example would be the Rock Hill, South Carolina Police Department whose mission is also to serve, protect, and cultivate community partnerships that will ensure safety and security for all (cityofrockhill.com. n.d.). Furthermore, their values are built on a philosophy that includes the values of community, excellence, integrity, loyalty and teamwork (cityofrockhill.com. n.d.). The department also believes that a diverse workforce promotes justice for all citizens and encourages all of their officers to contribute to their community by volunteering their available time as well as resources to assist those that are in need (cityofrockhill.com. n.d.). Therefore, by doing this the community as well as the department recognizes the need in the community to assist the less fortunate because they realize that ethics in the community is essential to their mission to serve the community (cityofrockhill.com. n.d.). The term crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is defined as helping the community deter crime through changes with the environment of a particular community (ctuonline.edu. …show more content…
n.d.). This means that its goal is to help reduce the opportunity for any type of crime to occur and achieved by employing physical designs features that will discourage crime (crimewise.com. n.d.). It also means that law enforcement officers, architects, city planners, landscape and interior designers, and resident volunteers can create a climate of safety in a community right from the start (ncpc.org. n.d.). Furthermore, its goal is to ensure that crime is prevent by designing a physical environment that positively influences human behavior. However, there is a theory that is used with CPTED and it is based off of four main principles such as natural access control, natural surveillance, territoriality, and maintenance (ncpc.org. n.d.). Therefore, this theory helps people put the CPTED into action in their community with the help of designing a hands-on, interactive, two-or three-day basic or advance training that is specifically tailored for their community’s needs (ncpc.org. n.d.). One of the ways CPTED could be applied is by helping the communities address neighborhoods that are plagued with abandoned properties and foreclosed homes in order to either sell them or knock them down for new ones (ncpc.org. n.d.). Once this is done it can then be used to get more or better lighting for the community, better landscaping in