Police Perception In My Community Essay

INTRODUCTION AND precept lodge point Policing is a school of thought and non a specific tactic, It is a proactive, depennyralized approach, designed to reduce curse, disorder, and by extension, fear of crime, by intensely involving the analogous officer in the same companionship on a long-term basis, so that residents leave behind develop trust to aid with constabulary by providing teaching and financial aid to achieve those terzetto crucial goals (Trojanowicz and Carter,1988) The raving mad Crime Control and equity Enforcement propel of 1994 (Crime Act) is widely recognized as a signifi layaboutt milestone in federation policing. It was intended by President Clinton and attorney General Reno as the changing of policing. The formula yieldd the funding vehicle for an additional 100,000 law officers to boost law enforcement efforts in a climate of nationwide anxiety near crime. The Act gave the stake of confederacy lie Policing Services (OCOPS) the task of supporting a major drive toward rooting connection policing in solid rigations to become the normal orthodoxy in American law enforcement.(Nicholl, 1999)Law Enforcement Agencies through with(predicate) tabu the country look to Office of alliance point Policing Services to change their induce profits. According to OCOPS, residential district policing foc intents on crime and companionable disorder through the deli real of jurisprudence respond that includes aspects of conventional law enforcement, as well as prevention, problem-solving, club engagement, and leagues. The fraternity policing model balances activated responses to c alones for service with proactive problem-solving centimeered on the ca lend oneselfs of crime and disorder. partnership policing requires jurisprudence and citizens to bond together as partners in the hunt down of cardinal identifying and effectively lectureing these issues. It is important to pure tone retiring(a) the realitys information of the legal philosophy is an essential element for the victory of companionship Policing-establish strategies. Through emerge the country, studies feel been throw off that correlate legal philosophy information and Community Policing.During the past 20 years, there has been an expanding be of inquiry examining citizens attitudes toward the jurisprudence. Most of this look into has been direct at taxing the determinants of these attitudes. In contrast, less management has been focused on the reasons why citizens intromit certain attitudes (Frank et al,2005)The author then, as a member of the Chesterfield jurisprudence plane voice, has a exceptional interest in Community Policing and guard bedledge, or so especially in his own confederation. This research them hires to take aim jurisprudence acquaintance particularly in the Community of Chesterfield towns heap, a part of The County of Macomb in the state of knot.It is outlay mentioning that The Chesterfield legal philosophy subdivision s aim is embodied in its mission story it is committed to providing the high-pitchedest quality of in the public eye(predicate) service and crime prevention while maintaining the publics respect and defend the rights and haughtiness of everyone. The Chesterfield natural law plane section is dedicated to backbreaking friendship relationships while providing a dear environment to enhance the quality of brio for our citizens and visitors, which is very much in bourne with the concept of Community Policing.This is further support by this constabulary Departments value statement , abbreviated as POLICE, which includes developing an ever outliveing PARTNERSHIP amidst the Community, having a dedicated to the OATH of protecting and serving all people ,recognizing the enormousness of all Department members and Citizens, treating each separate with fairness, LOYALTY and respect , maintaining the highest degree of INTEGRITY, cosmo s responsible and accountable for their own actions and decisions , bank that COOPERATION and team change by reversal will alter them to achieve all goals of this Department and having a commitment to faithfulness in the writ of execution of their duties (http//www.chesterfieldtownship jurisprudence.com/values.htm) The Chesterfield guard Departments Mission and Value statements apportion the same elements with the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services which aims to help law enforcement agencies weapon and enhance union policing, defined as a policing philosophy that promotes and supports organizational strategies to handle the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and constabulary- alliance partnerships. (C.O.P.S. http//www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp? spot=36/ ) Chesterfield Township is located in Macomb County, Michigan and encompasses an area of approximately 26 square miles. The population at the 2000 nose c ount was 37,004. This increased to 446,962 in the year 2006. (Muller, 2006) The Township was sacrificeed in 1842 and became a take up Township in 1989 by Resolution. (Pall, 2002) In Chesterfield, The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 28. The number of murders and homicides was 1. The violent crime rate was 0.7 per 1,000 people.Meanwhile, in the whole Macomb county, of which Chesterfield is included, a total of 22,395 were reported for the year 2000 , a legal age of reports were for Larceny and Motor vehicle theft. Sixteen of the reports for that year were on murder, 309 for misdemeanor and 384 reports on robbery for that year (Federal authorisation of Investigation to the National Archive of wicked nicety Data, University of Michigan) It is in from scope then that the author gathered info for the mop up of this research Guided by feedback from new(prenominal) researches undertaken on guard Perception of the federation such as these Gathering ent ropy on crime and conjunction policing at the topical anaesthetic take not except supplements our national data, but overly allows local officials to identify their particular crime verify penurys, said situation of arbiter Statistics theater director Jan Chaiken. As part of the Justice Departments emphasis on natural law working with residents in their neighborhoods, we are fully grown local law enforcement agencies tools to learn much about crimes and public opinion that whitethorn not be reported to the police.Community policing is a crime fighting system that encourages law enforcement to work in partnership with the community to solve crime problems. The high degree of citizen support for Americas neighborhood police officers is a will to the dedicated men and women who work twenty-four hour period in and day out to establish relationships with residents in their communities, said Deputy attorney General Eric Holder. These relationships help citizens and police work together to promote community safety. ( smith et al, 1999) In light of these statements, this research was undertaken to determine the patrol Perception in the Community of Chesterfield Township, whether it is plus or negative through the use of a constabulary Perception passel adapted from earlier studies made by other police department in certain cities, particularly Portland (Campbell De long, 2005) , Pasadena ( police force Assessment imaging spirit, 2006). gelt (The pelf Community Policing military rank Consortium, 2004) and Kentucky (Kentucky Crime Prevention Coalition) it similarly aims to provide demographic segmentation of take after responsives in relation to their natural law Perception in Chesterfield Township. Such information will enable the Chesterfield practice of law Department to continue sprightliness out their mission statement and make up the philosophy of Community Policing by every maintaining or improving their performance rear endd on their communitys police intelligence, as will be determine by the mass done for this study. It is the foretaste of this author that this research will also lead to the initiation of other studies concerning his community and the other areas in the County of Macomb, and even the solid ground of Michigan to further improve the police force Departments public service performance to picture the safety of the citizens.REVIEW OF RELATED writingsThe idea of examining constabulary Perception is not new. The communitys scholarship of the police department has been linked to the success of police curriculums to promote safety in the neighborhood. A study made by Gallagher. Et al in 2001, summarizes the studies made believeing jurisprudence two-base hit and Communitys sensing of the jurisprudence in a The Public get wind of the Police final Report to The transnational Association of Chiefs of Police. interrogation findings point out that Polls of the adult population in the United States since the 1960s guide that the majority of the public has an over-all incontrovertible view of the police. Depending on the year and the particular measure used, the division of respondents with a confirmatory opinion of police has been surrounded by 51 and 81 percent. When asked to appreciate service to their own neighborhoods, respondents tend to elevate even higher evaluations. Relatively a couple of(prenominal) citizens offer a negative assessment of police. (Gallagher et al. 2001). Research also recognizes that Police Perception has a great impact on the success of the promulgation of Community Policing. Trojanowicz & Carter( 1991) cover the philosophy and role of community policing. It points out that Community Policings unique part is a radical departure from the past and the present. While todays community policing efforts retain the best elements of the foot patrol programs of the past, they are intended to avoid both the old systems abuses and sho rtcomings. In Community Policing, Community Justice, and Restorative Justice Exploring the Links for the Delivery of a equilibrize Approach to Public Safety Nicholl in 1999 with a report funded by move over No. 98-CK-WX-0059 honored to the National Victim Center by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. It discusses the concept of Community extensively, in a insurance policy-makers perspective.Liou & Savage make the connection between Community Policing Strategies and Public Perception of Police through their research Citizen Perception of Community Policing ImpactThis study take ins the impact of community policing by analyzing citizens cognizance of crime and police work in the lead and after implementation of a community-oriented policing program in three neighborhoods in the metropolis of West Palm Beach, Florida. The study reveals very corroboratory findings about the community policing, including science of decreased local crim e, increased perceptual experience of police performance, neighborhood improvement, and police-community relationship. Implications concerning the relationship between the community and the police, and citizen satisfaction and public services are discussed.( Liou & Savage)Many other studies brace been done to examine Police perception and these take into attachment different variables, world done in various settings. Frank, Smith and Novak (2005) focused on the reasons why citizens fill certain attitudes towards police officer. Their study uses the behold responses of 613 residents of a Midwestern city to examine the information accessed by citizens when responding to questions regarding their general and specific attitudes toward the police. The findings suggest that citizens focus on attributes of agencies and encounters, more(prenominal) or less focus on the behavior of officers during interactions, and others base their attitudes on general perceptions of the occupation of policing. A comprehensive look at Police perception issues can be found in Brown & Benedicts article Perceptions of the police Past findings, mannerological issues, abstract issues and policy implications which is a research updates and expands upon Deckers article Citizen attitudes toward the police a review of past findings and suggestions for future policy by summarizing the findings from more than 100 articles on perceptions of and attitudes toward the police.Initially, the value of research on attitudes toward the police is discussed. Then the research pertaining to the impact of unmarried take variables (e.g. race) and contextual level variables (e.g. neighborhood) on perceptions of the police is reviewed. Studies of juveniles attitudes toward the police, perceptions of police policies and practices, methodological issues and conceptual issues are also discussed. This review of the publications indicates that precisely four variables (age, contact with police, neighbo rhood, and race) welcome consistently been proven to affect attitudes toward the police. (Brown & Benedict,2002) In hurt of application, several police departments sport made their own studies on Police Perception. Community Policing in Chicago an rating of Chicagos preference Policing dodging Prepared by The Chicago Community Policing Evaluation Consortium was done in through a grant awarded to award to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information agency in 2004. The Portland Police Bureau 2005 Community Assessment thought was conducted forCity of Portland, Bureau of Police by Campbell de long mental imagerys Inc in August 2005Police Assessment alternative Center and Vera establish of Justice terminate Assessing Police-Community Relations in Pasadena, California in 2006 . The Kentucky Crime Prevention Coalition, meanwhile, adapted the use of a Community Policing go off. surmisalH0= in that location is no significant constituent of Chesterfield Residents who vex a have a positive perception of the Chesterfield Police DepartmentH1= on that point is a significant percentage of Chesterfield Residents who aim a positive perception of the Chesterfield Police DepartmentMETHODOLOGY Taking into consideration the limitations in man violence and imaginativenesss for this research, a simple random sampling method was applied to come up with the survey results. establish on the calculation for a 95 per cent confidence level and confidence time interval of five, the exemplification sizing was 275. The survey was conducted by distributing survey forms in several households around the Township of Chesterfield. Respondents were moderate to Chesterfield residents above 18 years of age. entirely one respondent per household was original. These survey forms, consisting of eight-spot-spot simple questions pertaining to the residents perception of the police, which was establish on survey forms used by other Police Departments as state in the literature re view. Only eight questions were included in the survey, because these questions focused on Police Perception. This is due to the scope and resource limitation stated earlier. A sham of this questionnaire is included in the appendix section of this paper This studys aim is to present data about Police Perception of the residents of the Township of Chesterfield in Macomb County in the State of Michigan. This research is done to show that the general perception of police in the sample population perceive the police positively. The sample size was 275 respondents in the township of Chesterfield, which has a population of 446,962 in the latest census in the year 2006. base on a confidence level of 95 and a confidence interval of 5, the sample size is sufficient to see the response of this community regarding their perception of the Chesterfield Police Department. mannequin 1 shows the demographic breakdown of respondents by race. More than half of the respondents were Caucasians, w hich also reflected the actual population of Caucasians, 93 % of Chesterfield population, in the 2000 Census made by the US Census Bureau. In the sample population, 61 per cent was composed of Caucasian or white residents. Other races composes 14.5 percent and 12 percent were of African-American descent. Asians comprised 5.5 per cent and 4.4 % of sample population were Hispanics/Latino. Meanwhile, 1.1 per cent was American Indians and pacific islanders compose on 0.7 per cent. base on these figures, it can be surmised that the Chesterfield Township was predominantly Caucasian, in terms of the population. The relationship of this data to the results concerning Police Perception will be discussed later. The study only included residents who were 18 years old of age and above. The data shows that majority of respondents were from the 18-29 age host, with a percentage of 39 of the sample population. The age group with the least number of respondents was that of residents 50-59 years old, representing only 9 per cent of the sample population. This signifies that the Chesterfield township has fairly young residents, as seen by the larger percentage of those below mediate age. Given the limited man power and resources, the author opt to estimate Police Perception using only eight questions adapted from other studies stated earlier. The source three questions were on how the community sensed police officers, base on their encounters. The fourthly question estimated the residents opinion about the adequateness of the number of police officers in the community. The fifth, 6th and seventh questions estimated residents perception of police ground on three parameters- behavior, ability to assess considers and relationship of police officers to residents themselves. The last question asked the residents to give their over-all perception by indicating their rating for the Chesterfield Township Police Department. Figure 3 Police Perception Responses in Chesterfiel d Township Community shows the relationships of responses of residents to the first three survey questions. As unmingled in the chart, answers for the questions on police perception based on encounters add up a similar pattern, indicating that most respondents chord that police officers are prompt, professional and fair. Figure 4 represents the respondents opinion on the need for more police officers in the community. Based on the results gathered, majority, 36.4 per cent , slightly agree that there is a need for more police officers in the community. As a whole, though, it can be seen that more residents disagreed and strongly disagreed, 14.5 and 7.3 per cent singlely, that there was further need for more police presence as compared to respondents who agreed,9.1 per cent, and strongly agreed,1.8 per cent to the augmentation of police visibility. With regard to the Chesterfield communitys perception of Police based on three parameters, their responses follow a similar trend, as evident in Figure 5. In terms of behavior, 49 . 5 per cent rated police inviolable. 32. 7 % gave Chesterfield police officers a rating of excellent. Fair was how 14. 5 per cent rated police in the community while 3.6 per cent did not have sex how to answer this question. In their ability to address the need of the community, Chesterfield police officers were again rated Good by 54 . 5 per cent of the residents. An Excellent rating was disposed(p) by 29.1 per cent, while Fair was what 11. 6 per cent deemed appropriate. at that place were 4.7 per cent of the population, though, that didnt know how to rate their police officers. When it comes to relationships between Chesterfield residents and their communitys police, majority, 43.6 per cent chose to rate this, as Good, Fair was give as rating by 27. 3 per cent of the population and 21.8 gave an Excellent mark. There were 7.3 residents, though that were still unsure how to rate the Chesterfield communitys relationship with its pol ice officers. Based on this information, Police perception in the areas specified were rated Good by a majority of Chesterfield residents. This point out a positive view of the townships police officers. In relation to this positive response, the over-all rating of Chesterfield township community residents is seen in Figure 6. However, here, we see a parapraxis of the rating from Good to Fair. Apparently, most residents, 40.4 per cent particularly, perceive the Chesterfield Police Departments performance as Fair. Thirty two per cent believe that the townships police deserve a cheeseparing rating. Approximately 25 per cent believe their Police force is ExcellentHYPOTHESIS TESTING This limitation of this study has been presented in the previous chapters. It is important to reiterate that this is mainly, a descriptive study. However, for research purposes, the Hypothesis that There is a significant percentage of Chesterfield Residents who nurture a positive perception of the Cheste rfield Police Department has been stated, with its corresponding null venture There is no significant reject percentage of Chesterfield Residents who have a have a positive perception of the Chesterfield Police Department. Based on the data presented, there is demo to believe that on all eight questions, the communitys police perception leaned towards a positive image of the members of the Chesterfield Police department. Although specific statistical tools were not applied on the data, the descriptive statistics show that the Hypothesis should be accepted and the null hypothesis are rejected. shoemakers last and RECOMMENDATIONS This study aims to observe the Chesterfield communitys perception of its police officers. Based on the data present, it is evident that most residents of this community hold a positive perception of their police officers. Descriptive Statistics show evidence of these, based on the percentages of positive responses. This study, heretofore is simplistic an d there are a lot about Police perception these communities that should be evaluated so that they are translated into information that can improve the services of the Police Department. The data gathered for this research however, can be a guide to others who will pursue such inquiry on Police Perception and who are fire in this area as a means on evaluation of Community Policing course of instructions, much like what other police departments have done in their respective communities. It is important to point out, however, that more resource be invested in such an essay to be able to come up with data that is comprehensive and more accurate. It is the consent of this author, though that this simple research has given a glimpse of the Chesterfields communitys perception of its police officers, and serve as a spring posting to more advanced and relevant research.REFERENCESAnnan, Sampson O.(1995) case SURVEY OF COMMUNITYPOLICING STRATEGIES, 1992-1993 Computer file. ICPSR version. Washington, DC The Police Foundation producer, 1994. Ann Arbor, MI Inter-university Consortium for policy-making and Social Research distributor,Brown, B. & Benedict W. (2002) Perceptions of the police Past findings, methodological issues, conceptual issues and policy implications Policing An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 25,543 580Campbell Delong Resources, Inc.(2005) Portland Police Bureau 2005 Community AssessmentSurvey Conducted for City of Portland, Bureau of Police RETRIVED 27 APRIL 2008from http//www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=105839Chesterfield, Michigan. 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