PPAS 2420 Community Policing Due Date March 28 all essays must be uploaded on Turnitin before midnight Page 8-10 pages double spaced excluding title and bibliographical pages 6 to 8 academic sources...

Community policing of racialized communities in the United States
Introduction
In 1994, a Crime Act was set up, which started this whole concept of community policing in the US and set it into motion (US Dept. of Justice, 2004). What started off as a good gesture in terms of connecting more with the public, thus resulting in the reduction of hate crimes and crimes altogether, has been under controversy lately. Although, this method has been effective in big cities and small cities analogously, there have been constant rumours of police leading investigations, being racially motivated and biased. With the help of this piece, we will be understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this kind of a system. Along with that, two of the busiest cities in the US, Washington, D.C and Los Angeles have been selected for further study into their racially biased population and how community policing has or has not benefitted them. After discussion, we will present a short conclusion to the opinion of how community policing has really effected US, and whether or not it has been difficult for the cities or towns with a larger racialized crowd (which in this essay will focus on the African American crowd).
“Community policing is, in essence, a collaboration between the police and the community that identifies and solves community problems” (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1994). According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, community policing is a method by which the justice system can work in close interaction with the communities. As the police get involved in the communities itself and start interacting with the public up close, it becomes easier for the common man to discuss their problems, report any mishappenings and refrain from petty or major crimes mostly due to understanding. The US Department of Justice (2004) claims, “two-thirds of U.S. local police departments and 62 percent of sheriffs’ offices have full-time personnel performing community policing”. So, indeed the US police have been giving community policing a very serious thought and consider it to be a key essential in stopping the crime. But is it actually functioning as so intended? We will understand this by application of SWOT analysis on community policing in the racialized communities in the US.
SWOT Analysis
We will start with the strengths of this system. The first basic strength of this kind of system is the level of interaction. It is indeed true that when the police is sitting inside offices and only visible when a crime is committed, it is difficult for the common public to relate to the justice system. But as soon as they see a known face or hear a known voice, at some level they are assured that the work will be done. Apart from this, the second best thing is that with the constant presence of the police, crime rates tend to reduce as people feel they have some representative of the justice department with whom they can share their problems. Another strength of the system is that a lot of thought has been put into strategizing unique approaches for different kinds of neighbourhoods, especially for communities with racial imbalance in them. For example, sheriffs with jurisdiction in tribal reserve communities focus on their innate issues like maybe domestic violence. They also work hand in hand for empowerment of these small communities.
In some places, in lieu of advanced community policing, the police officers have actually gained the confidence and started working with the community leaders and the officials who have been elected. This not only helps in gaining trust but also guides the police in understanding the build-up and the nature of the residents of their area. Another very important advantage or strength of community policing is keeping the citizens informed and engaged. Most of the sheriffs in areas keep their citizens engaged by holding meetups with all the citizens of the area, no matter what caste, creed or colour and helping them to understand the trends of the crimes in their area and acting responsibly. In some states, this level of confrontation has actually led to a reduced number of crime commitment in the area.
Although we do see a lot of strengths in this process, the weakness and gaps in this system are just as much, especially in a community where there is unequal distribution of races. The most important weakness is the mistrust placed in the minds of the citizens. “Public trust and confidence in the police is generally low, with minority group members especially mistrustful of the police” (T.R. Tyler, 2005). The paper quoted above also goes on to state that this trust of the citizens in the police in racially imbalanced areas is dependent on the specific judgement which people create in their minds when they see how fair the police has been in showing authority in...