Community Oriented Policing

838 Words4 Pages
Policing is a career developed from necessity. Many Americans initially policed themselves and kept up with their own belongings. From the beginning of the country, many Americans did not have locks on their doors and the community was safe for the most part. As the nation developed in size and expanded geographically. With the expansion of the population, Americans found an expansion in crime. Many areas adopted Constables or Sheriff’s to oversee law enforcement practices in their area. These individuals handled the general peace in the community. These individuals would make arrests and investigate crimes when needed. Over the years as communities grew, so did the need for law enforcement many agencies grew in force to handle the growth…show more content…
Steps were taken to improve this relationship. Police departments developed C.O.P.S. programs. C.O.P.S. is Community Oriented Policing services. These men and women were assigned to areas in their communities. Many were in low income neighborhoods. Many apartment complexes would house the C.O.P.S officers in which they could implant themselves into community. These Officers would meet with community members and provide a one on one policing service. The officer’s task would change to getting street lights in areas build neighborhood watches and aggressively patrol high crime areas. This seemed to increase the Communities perception of the police department. The culture and stigma began to change with the perception of the police department. Many community groups and minorities learned that the police departments were there to help. Many Americans, for the first time began to trust the police. The Federal government decided that this was a positive example of law enforcement agencies. The Federal government made grants available to law enforcement agencies to expand their forces to include C.O.P.S.
Open Document