Discuss the community policing philosophy. 

1. Discuss the community policing philosophy.

Community police requires that police are a resource within the community itself (AMU, n.d.). They are charged with handling the crime that might occur within the community as well as help to improve the overall quality of life (AMU, n.d.). In order to do so, this requires that police have a partnership with the community in which the serve (AMU, n.d.). There are a few key limits to the philosophy of community policing. First, the intent is to prevent crime before it ever happens rather than be reactive to it once it occurs (Lortz, 2016). Second, it puts an emphasis on creating a safe social environment (Lortz, 2016). Third, police must interact with people within the community to determine what criminal activities are occurring within the community, and create an accurate priority list that is shaped by the people who live in it (Lortz, 2016). Forth, they must encourage the people who live within the community to participate with law enforcement to keep there own community safe (Lortz, 2016).

2. Search your local or regional news web page and locate a current event involving law enforcement officers, summarize the article or post, and discuss your perception of the police officers’ actions. What contributed to your perception? Please consider the media’s role in the event, the leadership of the department’s role, and the community’s role.

I found an article about local police into a the, Michigan town Royal Oak, responding to a call placed by a white woman claiming a 20 year old black man “looked suspicious” (Fox 2, 2019). The article has a video embedded into it that was broadcasted on Facebook live. You can watch the interaction and both the video and the article make it clear that this man is cooperative and not threating when approached by police (Fox 2, 2019).  At one point the man basically asks why they stopping him to which they explain some called saying he was looking suspicious (Fox 2, 2019). The mans reaction is what you might expect, frustrated and defeated, he even apologies for wasting their time (Fox 2, 2019). By this point four police units are on scene, the shift supervisor tells them man they have to respond to any call (Fox 2, 2019). Eventually everyone goes their separate ways and not charges are filed and not crime was committed (Fox 2, 2019).

To me this brings up other social issues and in the case the woman who called put someone else into a situation that could have been dangerous for everyone involved except her (Fox 2, 2019). I do not think this change my perception of police, in this case they shift supervisor is right, if someone reports suspicious activity the police have the duty to respond, they have a job to do. In this case, they created a bad image by responding four units to one unarmed and cooperative man walking down the street.