Partnerships in a Changing Society

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KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Communitarianism Community corrections Community court Community engagement Community governance Community justice

Community policing Community prosecution Community service center Demographics E-government Restorative justice

“Second-generation” station house

Sense of community Social capital

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

As a result of reading this chapter, the student will: � Have a grasp of what is meant by “community” and the roles that communitarianism, social

capital, and volunteerism play in it � Know why it is essential for government and the police to view citizens and other

organizations and agencies as invaluable partners in crime prevention and crime control � Comprehend the meaning of community policing, and understand how it differs from

traditional policing � Understand the challenges posed to the police by our nation’s shifting demographics,

immigration patterns, and high technology � Be familiar with the implications of an aging nation as well as the challenges posed by

younger generations of people and the changing nature of crime � Know what some jurisdictions are doing to make their police station houses more warm,

open, and community-oriented

� � � � � �

No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We must learn to see the world anew.

—ALBERT EINSTEIN

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When earth breaks up and heaven expands, How will the change strike me and you …?

—ROBERT BROWNING

INTRODUCTION

What is a “community,” and how do the police go about engaging and addressing problems within a changing community with its shifting types of crime? What are some of the changes that are occurring in our nation, with both its population and methods of crime? How must the police prepare to deal with them?

This chapter examines those questions, beginning with a look at some of the elements that compose a community. Included in this discussion, and to better understand how our nation and policing have evolved into the current community policing era, we emphasize one of the basic premises on which that strategy is founded: All agencies of government should view their citizens as invaluable customers and should understand the roles that community justice and governance, social capital, and volunteerism play in that view. Then we look at how courts and corrections agencies are also partnering with citizens through community and restorative justice; included here is a look at how units of government are reaching out with community service centers and e-government activities.

Then we discuss the point to which all of this has evolved: community-oriented policing. This portion of the chapter, together with Chapter 3, comprises the heart and soul of the book; we review community policing’s basic principles and how this philosophy differs from traditional policing. Following that is a review of some of the challenges that exist today as police agencies attempt to engage this changing nation, with its demographics, its economic and immigration issues, its aging population, and its high technology, as well as how police must deal with violence and fear of crime.

The overarching theme of this chapter is that the police and the community must partner to engage in crime fighting (indeed, a national survey found that police agencies employing 73 per- cent of all police officers now include elements of community policing in their mission state- ments).1 We do not examine problem-oriented policing and problem solving at length here; those discussions will follow later, primarily in Chapter 3. Furthermore, we discuss several other aspects of our changing society, such as challenges being posed by the new generation of Millennials, who are now entering the police workplace as baby boomers retire, in later chapters as well.

The chapter concludes with a summary, review questions, and several scenarios and activi- ties that provide opportunities for you to “learn by doing.”

WHAT IS COMMUNITY?

A Sense of Community

This chapter is essentially about community. But what is meant by the term “community,” and how do the police interact with it? Those fundamental questions must be addressed before pro- ceeding to discuss how this nation is changing.

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36 Chapter 2 • COPPS

First, it is important to note that today’s notion of community, under COPPS, is quite dif- ferent from the traditional view. The traditional community was homogeneous (as will be seen below); today most of us live with heterogeneity. Traditional communities experienced little change from one year to the next, commonly demanded a high degree of conformity, were often unfriendly to strangers, and could boast generations of history and continuity.

A sense of community is an intangible yet vital component of a healthy community. Many times a sense of community has deep historical roots, centered around a place, building, or event—a town square, church, holiday parades, sporting events, and so on. As well as good schools, clean air and water, and a low crime rate, a sense of community is increasingly a key fac- tor in where people reside. Strong communities also connect the different groups within them, and their members to each other and to civic life. They find ways for people to connect and con- tribute within the entire spectrum of community life.2

John Gardner3 delineated some key elements of a sense of community and what is needed to rebuild its sense of community in the future:

1. Membership. People become members of a community when they feel emotionally secure, personally invested, and a sense of belonging or identification in the community.

2. Influence. People who have a sense of community must feel that their opinion can have influence over what the group does.

3. Integration and fulfillment of goals. People are rewarded for their participation in the community, providing positive rewards and satisfying experiences.

4. Shared emotional connection. This final element seems to be the defining feature for peo- ple to experience a true emotional connection. There are many features of a community that facilitate people having such a connection, including a shared history or historical dis- trict, public places where they can socialize and interact, positive interactions between business owners and loyal customers, a nice blend between open spaces and buildings, and corridors that link cities and natural environment (rivers, biking trails).

A community’s quality of life is obviously determined by its citizens4; therefore, it is impor- tant that the public be empowered by government to engage in the identification and resolution of neighborhood concerns. It is well established that people act more responsibly when they con- trol their own environments than when they are controlled by others. Empowerment is an American tradition.5 Citizens should understand their community’s problems, and “good citi- zens make strong communities.”6

Communitarianism

A concept that has application to policing is communitarianism. This term, promulgated by prominent sociologist Amitai Etzioni and other academics, argues that we have gone too far toward extending rights to our citizens and not far enough in asking them to fulfill responsibilities to the community as a whole. Focusing not so much on politics as on the process of government, “it is a mindset that says the whole community needs to take responsibility for itself. People need to actively participate, not just give their opinions … but instead give time, energy, and money.”7

In this view, communitarianism is an attempt to nurture an underlying structure of “civil society”—sound families, caring neighbors, the whole web of churches, Rotary clubs, block associa- tions, and nonprofit organizations that give individuals their moral compass and communities their strength. Communitarians see our political culture as being in very bad shape, not just because elected officials have done a bad job but because citizens have not attended to what citizenship is all about.8

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Chapter 2 • COPPS 37

As a result, communitarians support processes such as problem solving, where neighbor- hoods have taken matters into their own hands, closing off streets and creating other physical barriers to disrupt the drug trade, working to overcome problems of homelessness and panhan- dling, and so on. This is where communitarians overlap with the objectives of community prob- lem solving: the recognition that many of the answers to community problems lie not with government but in the community at large.

Social Capital

Social capital concerns those “features of social organization such as networks, norms, and trust that facilitate cooperation or coordination for mutual benefits.”9 In other words, civic participa- tion is essential within American communities. Building partnerships between citizens and police is part of a larger community-building movement that requires high levels of trust and community engagement. For example, as will be seen below, making city services more accessi- ble, increasing citizen volunteers in government agencies, and developing neighborhood-based governing organizations have helped to increase problem-solving efforts.10

The first and most basic form of social capital is found among members of a family and between citizens within a community. Therefore, the importance of organizing a community cannot be overemphasized; doing so is the most effective way to work against often well-organ- ized adversaries (criminals).

The second level of social capital consists of those social networks tying the individual to broader community institutions: churches, schools, civic and voluntary organizations. These informal associations with other citizens help build familiarity and trust among individuals and keep individuals engaged in communal affairs.

If communities lack strong social cohesion, citizens are not likely to engage in collective activities, and police agencies will have difficulty implementing initiatives that require long-term citizen participation.

Volunteerism

The current economic crisis has probably placed more need for, and emphasis on the use of vol- unteers than any other time in our history. And people have responded to the call: An estimated

Citizen surveys provide police departments with vital information about their performance and citizens’ concerns. Courtesy Reno, Nevada, PoliceDepartment.

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38 Chapter 2 • COPPS

63.4 million Americans now volunteer to help their communities—an increase of 1.6 million vol- unteers compared to 2008; volunteers also provide about 8.1 billion hours of service. Most volun- teers participate in fundraising/selling activities (26.6 percent do this activity), followed closely by preparing or serving food (23.5 percent), providing labor or transportation (20.5 percent), or tutoring or teaching (19 percent). It is also known that as the rates of homeownership and employment decrease, the volunteer rate also tends to decrease; people with higher levels of edu- cation tend to volunteer more, while persons living in poverty volunteer less.11

The police have certainly taken advantage of this surge in volunteerism. Exhibit 2-1 provides an example of how several police agencies use, and benefit from, the public’s interest in volunteerism.

PARTNERS IN COMMUNITY JUSTICE

In today’s complex and diverse society, the police understand full well that community engage- ment is at the core of successful problem solving. Most police-community partnerships are infor- mal, but some—even those involving regular meetings with neighborhood groups—go farther and have a formalized structure. Examples of the latter abound, but following are a few good illustrations:

• The New Rochelle, New York Police Department partnered with community leaders and clergy to develop a program to facilitate a mutually respectful relationship between the police and the community through open lines of communication and cooperation.

• In Boston, the police department developed the “Boston Re-Entry Initiative” in partnership with faith-based, community, and criminal justice agencies to help former prisoners adjust to life in their communities; it also works with clergy to make unofficial visits to the homes of troubled youth.

• The Pasadena, California, police partner with licensed clinical social workers through the Homeless Outreach Psychiatric Evaluation Unit to address long-term solutions for the homeless and those suffering from mental illness.12

Certainly, agencies of criminal justice other than the police—courts and corrections organi- zations as well—must partner with their communities. Next we examine some of the activities they employ in engaging the public, beginning with a relatively new concept known as restorative justice.

Senior volunteers provide assistance to visitors in the downtown area of Reno, Nevada. They relieve police of many duties and patrol parks, schools, business districts, residential areas, and downtown. Courtesy Reno Police Department.

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Community Justice, Community Governance, and Restorative Justice

As indicated above, in addition to the police, courts and corrections organizations have also been compelled to change their strategies and approaches to a concept of community justice. Community justice is a new way of thinking about the criminal justice system; it is a systemic approach to public safety, emphasizing problem solving and focusing on community concerns.

Exhibit 2-1 Volunteering in Police Services (VIPS): Some Examples

Following are three examples of how the police can utilize volunteers; national awards are now available to police agencies for those efforts. A part of this initiative is the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Program. Managed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, VIPS has the sole objective of enhancing the capacity of state and local law enforcement agencies to utilize volunteers.

� Any employee of the Bellevue, Washington, Police Department can request volunteer help with an event or program. The volunteer program coordinator writes a volunteer assignment description that outlines the volunteer’s responsibilities, describes any spe- cial skills or abilities the volunteer should have, and sets the hours the volunteer will work. The volunteer program coordinator then finds the best available volunteer for the assignment. Volunteers in the program have served as archive managers, case assistants, bicycle registration and recovery specialists, fire lane parking enforcers, community projects administrators, quartermasters, and chaplains, to name just a few of the 30 or so roles they play.

� Volunteers assigned to VIPS Patrol in Vacaville, California, issue citations for all non- moving violations, direct traffic, service police vehicles, relieve school crossing guards, assist with searches for missing persons, report unlicensed businesses, and help enforce municipal codes involving neighborhood blight and reporting violations of all kinds. Volunteers also assist in the records section (releasing crash records, running citations for traffic court, providing customer service at the front counter), the prop- erty and evidence section (purging unneeded evidence, updating computer records), the K-9 unit (putting on the protective wear and standing in for the bad guy during training exercises), and the investigations division (coordinating the crime prevention program).

� The Hazelwood, Missouri, police department’s Volunteer Services Unit first requires volunteers to have completed the citizens’ police academy; they are then eligible to par- ticipate in the Citizen Observer Patrol, i

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