The Importance Of Police And Community Relations

No matter what the interaction is or how often they occur, everyone builds a relationship with the people they encounter. When it comes to police officers and those who work in law enforcement this is especially true due to the fact that their entire jobs revolve around being involved with the public since it is their jobs to protect the citizens in their community. A statement that speaks to the extent of how far up and down the ranks of law enforcement their relationship with those that they serve goes is one that states “police/community relations is the job of every officer and not just the person conferred with that title”. This statement means that whether a person carriers the title of officer, is the sheriff or chief of police, a detective, …show more content…
This is the most basic form of interactions between people. It is simply “everything done with each other as human beings in all kinds of relationships” (Schmallleger, 2014, p. 320). This includes anything from smiling at a stranger to a mother holding her newborn. Human relations come in all forms and happen on a daily basis. As human beings, we have to interact with others in order to function correctly in social settings and when we are dealing with those around us. The better someone is with interacting with those around them, the better they will be in handling different situations they are put in. Human relations are the bases of all human interaction on every …show more content…
Police-community relations is “the relationship and public relations between the police and the community” (Schmalleger, 2014, p. 320). This involves officers using both of the previously mentioned tools in order to effectively interact with the public and to successfully do their job. A person can extend a helping hand and any and every one that they come in contact with, but if they cannot effectively communicate with those that they come in contact, then the gesture is for not. Human interactions are key in every situation, no matter who a person is and what position they hold. For police officers, this is especially true due to the amount of social interaction they encounter on a day to day basis. They have to be able to interact successfully with the community and be able to show that they are there for the benefit of the public. Being able to successfully combine the two thru police-community relations is the sign of a well socialized person and