Community Policing

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Community Policing
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Developed in Response

• To the changes that put police in cars and
  removed them from neighborhoods
• To understanding that modern law enforcement has
  not been able to make communities safer (for the
  most part) or to reduce fear of crime
• To the recognition that both the extent and
  nature of crime in our communities require
  different police strategies

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It requires

• the active participation of local government,
  civic and business leaders, and public officials
• fundamental changes in the structure and
  management of police organizations
• that police goals be expanded beyond crime
  control and prevention
• that police use a wide variety of methods to
  achieve these goals.

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Two Core Components

• Focus on
• community partnerships
• problem solving instead of crime fighting
• It is a philosophy more so than a specific set of
  actions.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vUAf23H2Dz7I

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Examples

• Community Coordinated Responses
• Family Justice Units
• Specialized Domestic Violence Officers/Units

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Coordinated Response Model

• Duluth Pioneer in the Field
• Interagency Communication and Cooperation key to
  the process
• Usually established a task force model whereby
  all stakeholders come to the table to coordinate
  the responses of all stakeholders
• Key Components Establish Philosophical
  Approach Networking/Interagency Communication
  and Cooperation Policy/Protocol Development
  Support for Victims Accountability Evaluation

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Philosophical Approach

• Creating a coherent philosophical approach that
  makes victim safety the most important goal
• Eliminate victim blaming (attitudes and
  practices)
• Ask why should she use the system?
• Understanding that the perpetrator is responsible
• Examine all reforms to look for unintended
  consequences that may put the victim in harms
  way

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Networking/Interagency Communication and
Cooperation

• Interagency dialogue is a must
• The process of setting up any Council is critical
• Regular, focused meetings

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Policy/Protocol Development

• Focus on agency accountability
• Focus on individual accountability
• Helps ensure that change is lasting beyond
  individuals who may leave agencies

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Support for Victims

• Ensures that all essential services exist,
  identifies needs, and targets funding and
  implementation in areas where services are
  lacking
• Asks How does this practice improve or impair a
  victims protection and safety?

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Accountability

• Provides opportunities for treatment and change
  of offenders, but focus is always on
  accountability.
• Assesses all responses to ensure that batterers
  are held accountable at all levels.
• Holds agencies responsible for ensuring that
  batterers are held accountable

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Evaluate Progress

• Collect data and use it to evaluate changes
• Willingness to change policies and procedures in
  light of findings
• Recognizing that some data will be difficult to
  deal with

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Key Questions

• What will improve the community response?
• What kind of resistance will there be to a
  different proposal?
• Why would that resistance be there?
• Who are the key leaders to sell on trying
  something new?
• How could proposed changes backfire for the
  community, the police, the victim?
• What kind of training on the proposed changes
  will be needed?
• How can changes be institutionalized
  (policy/protocol?)

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Impact for Law Enforcement Officers

• Need to play an active role in working with
  coordinating councils
• Councils ultimately help officers because when
  all systems work together
• victims will be more apt to cooperate with
  officers in arrest situations and be more apt to
  use the criminal justice system at all levels,
  and
• officers will have more options at their disposal
  including referrals to service agencies that will
  respond effectively and ultimately reduce the
  need for victims to rely upon police response.

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Family Justice Centers (FJC)

• Pioneered in San Diego.
• Are a place where all (or many) services for
  victims of domestic violence are provided in one
  place
• Reduces the burden of accessing multiple service
  providers
• Increases interagency coordination
• Services may include domestic violence advocacy,
  prosecution, police, housing assistance, income
  assistance, civil legal assistance, medical
  assessment and/or treatment, and faith-based
  support.

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Specialized Domestic Violence Units/Officers

• In large police departments
• May involve patrol officers, detectives, crime
  analysts, victim advocates
• Idea is that they become specialists in the
  area
• In smaller departments, one or two officers can
  have these same role

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Ultimately

• A police response that sees domestic violence as
  integral to community policing and which engages
  with community wide responses will provide better
  services to victims, enhance police response, and
  help officers responding to calls for service.