Free Essay on Police and Their Clients

In the face of increased insecurity, there has been the need to buffer the measures adopted by the members of the security team. One of the adopted measures is the community outreach programs. The community outreach program is often a multicultural program that strives to enhance security through building relationships with business owners, residents and other individuals within the vicinity of a particular station. Some community outreach programs have proven successful with there being strategies that require consideration in their implementation while factoring aspects such as the changes in demographics, population, and even crime rates. Characteristics, certain models of the programs could be implemented successfully in the community today.

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Past Successful Community Outreach Programs

In the face of the emphasis placed on community policing in the past, there was the implementation of some community outreach programs that could still play a pivotal role in enhancing security in local communities. Kasper (2011) gave the example of Neighborhood Watch Programs as one of the community outreach programs that emerged to be a success. Under this program, there is a group of citizens collaborating with a police liaison. This group forms a weekly or even monthly meeting with the members of the police force to discuss issues in the neighborhood while providing a solution for the same. Under this program, the author noted that some of the issues that were of concern were such as graffiti, abandoned among others (Kasper 2011). The Farmington Hills Police Department is one of the stations that have successfully employed the Neighborhood Watch Programs having been operational for more than 20 years. Kasper (2011) added that this outreach program ensures that the citizens feel a connection towards each other alongside their police department, alongside instilling a sense of community that never existed before its implementation.

Implementation Strategies

Finding the best fit for an organization is one thing while ensuring its proper implementation is another different thing. Therefore, to ensure a successful community outreach program, there would be the need to devise strategies best suited to ensure appropriate implementation. The first thing would be putting in place the communication strategies as advised by Stevens (2018). This strategy ensures that there is the smooth sharing of information between the concerned parties. In the face of improved technology, the policing department could consider employing the modern tools ensuring fast communication within a short while. The other strategy to consider is on the recruitment of the citizens to participate in the program. One thing for sure is that despite the success attributed to the program, it may not garner as much popularity as one may think. However, its support is pivotal in ensuring its success. As such, there would be the need to employ strategies that ensures the recruitment of interested members. The strategy may entail the use of incentives bound to captivate the society members to join the program while also uplifting their motivation to ensure their commitment to the program.

Urbina and Alvarez (2015) highlighted that there had been a shift in the demographic trends concerning issues such as culture, immigration, employment, education among others. Therefore, the author voiced that in diverse communities with the Latino populations, there are higher probabilities of the eruption of the police-Latino community problems. In the face of the highlighted differences, one strategy to embrace is appreciating all the diverse needs of the members of the society. As such in devising the strategy, there would be the need to ensure that the strategy meets all the needs of the population while also upholding its compatibility with the same. Technology would also come in handy as a strategy of implementing the community outreach program. In the modern day, social media has become an integral tool for communication. Moreover, most people are social media users making it easy for its use as an avenue for communication. As such, the implemented outreach program should consider using the social media as a tool for sensitizing people on the need to uphold security.

Use of the models in the community today

The Neighborhood Watch Program is one of the previous programs that would be the perfect fit for the community today. One reason is that the program creates a connection between the citizens. In today's communities, people are extremely busy with minimal time at their disposal for interaction. Despite how people try, they find themselves not interacting adequately and end up losing on the created connections. As such, this program would bring people together, an aspect that people would appreciate. The other thing is that the highlighted program strives to address some of the issues communities face with the example being graffiti and even loud parties. Therefore, through the program, there shall be the resolution of some of the challenges that the modern day communities encounter. Moreover, the societies today are not closely knit as they were in the past. Therefore, with the program, it ensures that neighbors look out for each other which is an aspect that should be adopted by the modern communities. One can conclude that the Neighbor Watch Program is the best for the community today as it not only upholds security but also ensures cohesiveness in the society.

References

Kasper, J. (2011). Progressive police supervision: A simple & effective approach for managing a police agency

Stevens, D. J. (2018). An introduction to American policing

Urbina, M. G., & Alvarez, S. E. (2015). Latino police officers in the United States: An examination of emerging trends and issues