Community Relations & Crime Prevention in US

Community relations and crime prevention programs are an essential part of crime rates and how a community function. When a community has positive relationships with police officers, it brings the community together and lowers the crime rate. There are many ways for a community to work together to bring crime rates down. Crime is everywhere, every city, every town, every state. The prevention of crime is just as important as law enforcement.

If a community can help to prevent crime before it happens, thoroughly educate our youth of the consequences of criminal activity and criminal lifestyles and change the outlook on how the community sees law enforcement, this will bring the crime rate down dramatically for that area.

It is not just law enforcement who is responsible for crime prevention, it is Americas responsibility. Parents, teachers, business owners, neighbors, etc. Everyone can play a role in the prevention of crime.

The Important Role That Good Community Relations and Crime Prevention Programs Have on a Community in The United States Community relations and crime prevention programs both play a significant role in crime rates and how well a community functions with law enforcement.

In communities where there is no good community relations, the public fears the police and crime rate is higher. When a community and law enforcement function as a team, it reduces the fear of crime, crime rates deteriorate, and it helps bring the community together for a safer environment. As important as it is for people to respect law enforcement to help maintain a good community, it is equally important that police officers have respect for the citizens.

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When police officers are more involved in the community, the community feels more connected to them. They learn that law enforcement is there to help the community and not fight it, making the community feel safer. We need to remove this blue curtain from our communities and work together to maintain a better society. Community – oriented policing “is a set of programs and strategies designed to bring police and the public closer together and create a more cooperative working environment between them.” Foot patrol is one strategy of community – oriented policing, where the officer is not in a patrol car, but walking around the neighborhood, engaged with the public. These programs are funded by the federal government, who provides billions of dollars to hire and train police officers through the COPS program. The community oriented policing strategies have been found to be very successful and have now become part of the everyday police role.

I think this has been such a successful strategy because it makes the police officers more approachable when they are out walking in the community. People are more like to approach and strike up a conversation with them and feel more connected to them rather than when they are in a patrol car where they aren’t as approachable. Vice versa, I think if police officers are out in the community, they are more likely to stop and have an everyday conversation with citizens and get to know them on a more friendly, name basis. Community policing reduces the odds of police officers abusing their authority or using unnecessary force on a civilian because they will be less likely to abuse people of the community that they have gotten to know personally. Watch groups are another form of community- oriented policing that is found to be highly successful in lowering crime rates and bettering community relations.

Over the years, the community is becoming more involved in crime watch. One watch group, that started in Chicago called “Dog Walker Watch” launched in April of 2014 the National Association of Town Watch, is where the law enforcement meets with members of the community, who walk around the neighborhood frequently, and instruct them on how to be more observant of their surroundings. The meeting is only about an hour long, but they are taught how to watch for certain things that are out of place and could possibly be criminal activity. They are instructed to report these findings to the police and to not get involved. Many cities have taken on this “Dog Walker Watch” program, it is a great way for citizens who are taking their everyday strolls through the neighborhood to work with law enforcement on keeping the community safe.

Community relations is key to a better society. The way a person views law enforcement, starts at a very young age. Children who are raised to fear the police and see them as the bad guys, are more likely to turn to crime then to be a good citizen. There are several different programs in the United Stated to help educate and prevent crime. There are programs for drug prevention, gun control, domestic violence, gangs, victim’s assistance, etc. Youth are the target for crime prevention programs. Youth are the future. Their minds have not yet fully developed and they do not always have the ability to determine right from wrong. It is our duty, as a community, to educate our youth on crime prevention. “The peak age for property crime is believed to be 16 and for violence 18.” When crime rates were up in the 1980’s, it was caused mostly from young people.

Young people are talked into peer pressure, they may not have money and may resort to criminal acts for an income. With youth programs in place, to help educate our children of the significance of being a good citizen and deterring from criminal activities, while showing them that police officers are there for help and support, we are able to help shape their minds into upstanding citizens and decreasing the chances of them turning to crime. Some of the youth programs include ride along’s, adults in the making, D.A.R.E, BBBS, interventions targeting street – connected youth, bully prevention programs and intervention to reduce dating and sexual violence.

These programs are funded by the federal government through the federal office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which was established by the Supreme Court through the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act of 1974. These were created to seek out and establish prevention programs in the juvenile justice process. Drug Prevention is a major link to crime prevention. Drug users are known to partake in criminal activities. When someone is using drugs, they may act or partake in violent crimes as an effect of the drug use, especially violent crimes. Another reason that drug use leads to criminal activities is the need for money to fund their drug habit, which many people turn to crime for funding.

Also, when drug users are buying drugs, it promotes the supply and demand. Supplier’s use drug trafficking and violent crimes to maintain their drug business. When treatment is offered and used by the offender, levels of crime decrease. This is why it is so important to have prevention programs in place, to deter the crime before it takes place. D.A.R.E established in 1983 by the Los Angeles police department and the Los Angeles unified school district to educate students on drug addiction, gangs and violence. D.A.R.E is an interactive school program, where students are informed of the consequences of drug use, how it affects a person physically, socially, and personally.

Students are also informed of the consequences of gangs, street violence, cyber bullying, and internet safety. They have changed the curriculum over the years, making decision – making skills and improving communication the top priority. How it was a positive experience and helped me to understand the importance of “just say no!” I also remember the police officer coming into the classroom to sit and talk with us. This is so important for our youth to be able to view police officers in a different perspective other than law enforcement. They bring in police officers with the intention of the students viewing the officer as friends, not an enemy. I think D.A.R.E plays a very significant role for educating our youth about crime prevention.

Although, studies have shown no impact from this program, the studies were not used with pretest format. Without this, it makes it difficult to know if there actually was an impact or not. D.A.R.E is continuously remodeling their program to make it more effective. D.A.R.E is in every state in the United States and almost 50 other countries. Gangs are a major problem in the United States. In 2012, a survey done by the National Youth Gang Center revealed that there were 30,700 youth gangs in the United States equaling about 850,000 members. Broken families, financial situations, desire for popularity, drugs, and lack of social support are all reasons why our youth would join a gang. Gangs do not just affect individuals, they affect family, schools, communities.

Parents are the key to success in gang prevention with our youth. Parents have such an impact on their children, been involved with your child can make all the difference in a child’s decision-making skills. Keeping tabs on children, knowing their friends and companions, being a good role model, spending quality time with them and keeping them socially involved in the community are all ways a parent can prevent their children from joining gangs. “A balance of prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies is important for success in any community.” There are many different programs that are directed toward preventing gangs, these are categorized into two main divisions, primary prevention and secondary prevention.

Primary prevention programs are directed toward all the youth in communities where gangs are present. These are programs directed by government, schools, communities, and churches that are educating youth of gangs and violence. Secondary prevention programs are directed towards youth who are at a high risk for joining a gang from showing early signs of aggressive behaviors. The goal is to help show these youth that there are better alternatives to joining a gang. Art is a crime prevention program that is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This is a secondary prevention program directed toward violent youth that is ten weeks long.

During this time, they work with the delinquents on anger management, moral reasoning training and skill streaming with the goal to be replacing aggression with coping skills to help them be successful in life. Crime rates will always be an important factor for how well a community functions. There are many things that everyone can do individually and as a team to keep crime on a low scale. If society will utilize the crime prevention programs to help shape our youth into promising citizens, and if civilians and police officers will set aside the blue curtain and come together as a force, we will have a promising future.