In my “Policing Problems” post, I began by discussing the wedge that distrust between citizens and law enforcement has created in our nation. As I went on to discuss my other two issues (stop-and-frisk and police quotas) I realized that mistrust was inherent in each of these topics. The overarching issue (in my opinion) plaguing policing is mistrust. Of course, solving the tension between citizens and law enforcement will not come over night, but I believe that we need to start with policies that mend this issue.
In the community, police usually interact with only two types of people: criminals and victims. This is the wrong approach. Rather than just appearing during a negative situation, law enforcement should also be immersed in the community through positive outreach. Currently we see a huge divide between authority (police officers) and everyone else (the citizens being policed). We need to close this gap by involving police in community events–ones where they are not only around to enforce the law. A precinct in Orlando recently sponsored GED classes, counseling for emotionally scarred kids, and a community housing project where police helped plant shrubbery in the neighborhood. During these events, police became familiar with the people in the area and crime rates dropped dramatically (thirty-two percent!). Changes in Orlando are not an anomaly, a Philadelphia precinct also experienced decreases in homicides, shootings, aggressive assaults, and narcotic sales as a result of community outreach. New York City, a state whose law enforcement has acquired a negative reputation, could greatly benefit from a program such as those in Orlando and Philadelphia, by showing the community that the police are not the enemy.
On the other side of the spectrum a popular approach called “focused deterrence” has been shown to also build community trust in the police. Unlike stop-and-frisk, where police are criticized for their efforts to “score easy arrests,” focused deterrence targets a communities worst culprits. This policy, like stop-and-frisk, seeks to lower violent crimes in low-income areas, however, the goal of focused deterrence is not to amass large amounts of misdemeanors or subject citizens to racial profiling. Rather, focused deterrence is based on the theory that small cohorts of individuals are responsible (in a trickling down type of effect) for most of the violent crime in minority districts. Where stop-and-frisk pit the authorities against the citizens, creating a neighborhood of suspects, focused deterrence would seek to work with the community to reach a common goal: decreased violence. The thought is that this partnership would put the community at rest. They would no longer be subjected to petty charges and their neighborhood would ultimately become safer in the process. Focused deterrence is not a new idea. It has long been studied by criminologists and has been shown to decrease crime.
Sources:
http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2013-11-examining-alternatives-to-stop-and-frisk
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/opinion/better-ways-to-police-than-stop-and-frisk.html?_r=0
http://web.mit.edu/gtmarx/www/alt.html
I cannot agree more on how important it is to close the gap between police officers and the community. I agree that police officers should not only make appearance in negative situations but also in positive situation. As mentioned in class discussion, I said that police should approach the community in more positive manner. This can be possible if they attend community events as you have mentioned in the post. It is important for police to build a positive image to society because it makes them more approachable. Especially because there have been increase in negative images of police, if we focus on recreating their image, people would find them helpful rather than power-driven or abusive. Focus deterrence is another great idea because I also believe that the police are approaching the wrong crowd. It is truly important to imprison the worse criminals rather than the petty criminals. However, I believe stop and frisk also has a purpose that cannot be ignored. So, rather than replacing stop and frisk, it would be more beneficial to lower the amount of police working on stop and frisk and enforcing them to work on focus deterrence.