Headlines across the country continue to spread the idea that police forces themselves are perpetuating violence. While the case of George Floyd is unforgettable and to many unforgivable, the National Police Association is trying to get a voice out there that explains their actual stance on the use of force. The simple truth is that use of force is going down among police force members across the nation; if you look at the numbers at the mainstream media is not displaying daily.
What is Community Policing
The best way to combat perception issues and the actual use of force is community policing, which is why the National Police Association is still heavily lobbying for this intensive method of community first policing. Community first policing is similar to proactive healthcare and encourages departments to analyze their community’s needs to address the problems that lead to repeat crime in their cities.
At the core of community policing is the idea that police forces need to stop policing on a case-by-case basis. Instead, they need to assess the most common crime, the cause of that crime, and then educate and reach out to the community to solve the disconnect. By addressing problems instead of dealing with them on a case-by-case basis, police forces can slowly start to solve extreme cases and drop crime levels and subsequently use force within their precincts.
How Are Proactive Police Forces Adopting This Style of Policing
The NYPD is an excellent example of how community policing can have positive results. In 1971 the NYPD police force fired a collective 314 shots at suspects, out of which 93 died. The NYPD responded to the numbers by creating an internal investigation process for all situations when force has to be used and made training procedure changes every year. The numbers continued to evolve to recognize what was working well during training and what was not.
As a result of their continual focus on change, in 2019, 24 shots were fired, out of which 11 were killed. The numbers support the idea that community policing does work. This is the same idea the National Police Association has been advocating for all along. First, the NYPD was able to identify where a problem was within their organization and then, through continued education and improved tactics, could reduce the prevalence of the problem to serve its community base better.
Issues with Community Policing
While the evidence is clear that community policing does work, two roadblocks prevent it from being adopted by every police force across America. The first is funding; as the “Defund the police” movement gained steam across the nation, many small towns and cities pulled funds away from their police forces, which is counteractive to the positive changes that most activists claim to want to see.
For all units to see the precise results, police forces need funding to continue to collect data. Unfortunately, large-scale data like the numbers compiled by the NYPD that showed the use of force needs to be addressed and is not collected by many police forces because the funding to support data collection isn’t there. In many forces, cops are forced to buy their gear down to their bulletproof vests, and paying for data collection or enhanced software is not a priority.
Even if data is collected, a lack of funding also prevents training programs from receiving the boost they need. Data allows local community issues to be identified, but proper training and an adjustment in approach enable officers to respond to problems in an enhanced format. New training programs and initiatives take funds, and when departments are crowdsourcing for proactive gear for their members, the idea of instituting new programs is almost obsolete.
Examples of Positive Community Outreach
However, positive community outreach is occurring every day despite the negative feedback – even if we don’t hear it. For example, in St. Petersburg, FL, the Pinellas County Sheriff hosted a “Cover the Cruiser” event where blue magnetic ribbons were placed over cruisers to show solidarity with sexual assault victims. In South Euclid, OH, an officer stopped to talk to kids at recess and give them all stickers and let them play with her siren. Every day cops reach out to the community, which is truly the best way to broach the gap between public perception and current negativity.
About The National Police Association
The National Police Association (NPA) is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization, EIN 82-0647764, founded to educate supporters of law enforcement in how to help police departments accomplish their goals. The National Poice Association works to bring national and local attention to the anti-police efforts challenging effective law enforcement, building public support for needed actions through public service announcements, legal filings, articles authored for the NPA by law enforcement experts and the NPA Report. For additional information, please visit www.nationalpolice.org.
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