Introduction
Community policing is an integrated approach that involves community members in promoting public safety. Enhancing security requires the commitment of every individual in society. Although police officers are paid by the government to enforce the laws, criminal activities can only be reduced if the community members are committed to eradicating criminal acts (Wood et al., 2018). Though the police will enhance public safety, it will receive resistance from people who benefit from the insecurity in the area. An integrated community approach enables the community members to have faith in the police department since the community members themselves are involved in ensuring that criminal activities are curbed. In most cases, the public lost trust in the police, especially when the law enforcers are involved in killing the public’s innocent members. Therefore community-based policing will improve the cooperation of both police and the people they are protecting.
Policy Alternatives
There are numerous policy alternatives that can be adopted instead of community-based policing. The alternatives can range from initiating own patrols to integrating first-responder organizations. Initiating their own patrols reduces criminal activities in that it covers the gap that officers have left when they are not patrolling. Housing the poor reduces crime rates since the homeless are usually vulnerable to illegal activities. According to Cordner, (2020), decriminalizing some crimes lowers criminal activities since people do not have the urge to experiment. In addition, it promotes social services resources that can accommodate reformed criminals and drug addicts. Moreover, first-responder organizations always perform numerous tasks. For instance, firefighters respond to emergencies, hence integrating them into the security system will lower pressure on the police system. Moreover, an integrated system of emergency teams will increase law enforcers’ numbers since the increasing number of community members overpowers the current number.
Stakeholders and Roles
There is a number of stakeholders who are involved in community policing. They include, 1) the community members who form an integral part of the team, hence they must be fully engaged. They can decide to reject the project or accept the plan and perform their role of informing the police. 2) Police officers – they are trained law enforces who can deal with any emergency and they are funded by both the local and the federal government. 3) Non-governmental organizations- they usually act as a link between the police and the community members, hence they can educate the general public. The NGOs also provide financial support to the initiatives aimed at protecting vulnerable community members. 4) Local politicians are critical because they formulate policies, hence they can ensure that the relationship between the community members and the police work.
Budget Cost Factors
Budget cost factors can be classified into two; external and internal factors. In external factors, the stakeholders involved in the policy have no control over the budget. The external factors include inflation of the price of goods and services, and taxation by the federal government. However, the internal factors are initiatives that the stakeholders can control. For instance, the commitment of the employees requires a change of attitude. The change of attitude will make the staff members focused and interested in what they are performing. Continuous monitoring of the project will require more resources while the availability of resources requires the input of the stakeholders to secure funding.
Saving Measures
Adopting a community voluntary work system will ensure that activities that need to be done are performed at a free cost because they will be done by volunteers. Moreover, the approach will instill a sense of responsibility into the participants. Meetings that are non-productive should be avoided at all costs because they consume time and resources yet they never provide any positive feedback. Additionally, the budget should be prepared and followed strictly to ensure that every coin is accounted for. Other sources of funding should be identified to seek additional funds.
Evaluative Criteria
- Relevance – This criterion will be used to determine if the policy is applicable to the needs of the community.
- Coherence – This will determine the consistency of the community-based policing policy.
- Effectiveness – This will help in determining if the policy will perform the function it is intended for.
- Efficiency – This will aid in defining the ease of operation of the policy.
- Impacts – are the expected outcomes
- Sustainability – It helps in determining if the policy will be long-lasting and affordable.
Incentives, Subsidies, and Support
Different stakeholders will provide different incentives, subsidies, and support. For instance, educational incentives will be given to the community members who are willing to be involved in community policing. Subsidies will however be provided by the local government, especially in hiring meeting venues that are usually expensive. Finally, the policy will require support from every person involved, however the federal and the state government will provide financial support.
Conclusion
Succinctly, community policing is a new approach to promoting public safety. However, it involves a number of stakeholders who play different roles to ensure that it is effectively implemented. Although the program will require community members to volunteer, it will have a budget allocated ion to effectively implement the policy. However, the budget is affected by both internal and external factors and the state is expected to provide financial support.
References
Cordner, G. (2020). A practical approach to evidence-based policing. Eur. Police Sci. & Res. Bull., 20, 53.
Wood, D., Cockcroft, T., Tong, S., & Bryant, R. (2018). The importance of context and cognitive agency in developing police knowledge: Going beyond the police science discourse. The Police Journal, 91(2), 173-187. Web.