enforcement organization.
There are two parts to this assignment.
FIRST PART: Research innovative methods of obtaining monies for a law enforcement organization. Write a paper on those methods and how they can be used to supplement police budgets in these tough economic times.
(Use at least 3 peer review articles journals) (The length of THIS PART MUST BE AT LEAST TWO PAGES)
SECOND PART: Peer Review one (1) of your colleague’s paper
Peer Review Instructions
*** When you commenting the student sample paper make sure you use at least ONE PEER REVIEW ARTICLE JOURNAL.
You will critically examine one (1) of your colleagues’ papers and review its theories and merits. I am looking for reasoned examination; AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS on research papers in a manner that is professional, academic, courteous, WELL SUPPORTED AND WELL THOUGHT OUT.
PEER REVIEW RESPONSES SHOULD BE AT LEAST 300-500 WORDS. The goal of peer review is to strengthen and improve the arguments and theories of your colleagues. Ask yourself “what is being written, how can it be improved, where are the holes in the paper and how can they be filled.”
Remember that peer review should move the paper to which you are responding forward. This means that even if you agree with the premise or theory, you should add to, or build upon it. Writing to a colleague “I agree with what you wrote” and then proceeding to quote word-for-word what was written does not show critical analysis or move the paper forward.
Discussion responses should incorporate critical thinking, logical examination and interesting and practical suggestions. Responses must be substantial (AT LEAST 300-500 words). Your responses must move the discussion forward by building on the premise posited by the colleague to whom you are responding.
Please refrain from; cheerleading (“Hey, great answer. I agree!”), one line answers (“In my opinion, that wouldn’t work because it’s been done before”) or writing “I agree with…” and then proceeding to quote word-for-word from your colleague’s paper without providing any of your own thoughts.
Abstract
Everything requires funding, even things that we take for granted require extensive amount of funding, including Law enforcement. The money that protects people from crime in America generally comes from taxes collected from the people but it doesn’t always cover all of the expenses associated with law enforcement. Since tax money doesn’t always cover all the expenses in law enforcement, departments have to come up with alternate forms of paying for the services they provide to the public. Those alternate forms are everything from bringing in extra money to reducing the amount of money they need to spend in order to provide those services.
One of the methods used by some law enforcement agencies that is effective at both saving money and helping out the police force is called Community Oriented Policing. According to Reducing the Cost of Crime through Reserve Police Officers and Volunteer citizen Patrol (2008) by James Larson, Victor Lewis, Kenneth Kay and Chandrika Kelso of National University the focus of Community Oriented Policing is problem solving and they do so by gaining the trust of the community and having them work with the police force to keep the community safe and guarded. Examples of Community Oriented Policing include a neighborhood watch program, citizens patrol groups to keep an eye on suspicious activity in the neighborhood and report on it, and the Drug Abatement Response Team (DART) to keep an eye on properties that could have drug activity taking place and report that to the City Attorney, Housing Inspection and Police.(Larson Et al., 2008) The benefits of Community Oriented Policing are listed in Reducing the Cost (2008)“Officers are able to spend more time working with citizens to solve crime and disorder problems. With better police-citizen communication, officers can more effectively use and share crime information with the public. Officers who know both a community’s problems and its residents can link people with other public and private agencies that can help solve community concerns. No single agency can solve complex social problems alone. A combined community-police effort restores the safety of our neighborhoods and business districts.” You can also see how an increased trust in law enforcement in the community could lead to a lower crime rate and also to making police efforts more effective.
One highly effective aspect of Community Oriented Policing is Problem Oriented Policing or POP.(Larson Et al., 2008) In Problem Oriented Policing the police department and the community work together to identify problems and brainstorm ways to address the problems. They do so by using the SARA model. SARA is an acronym for Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment. Scanning is the part of the process where problems are identified. During the Analysis questions are asked to learn everything possible about the problem. The Response stage depends on what is determined in the analysis stage and is the stage during which a custom made response is tried. Last is the Assessment stage during which the response is evaluated to see whether the problem was solved or at least reduced. (Larson et al., 2008) This method is effective because it lets the community get involved in letting the police know what the problems are. Things that may be hidden from the police are seen by the community and that way they can work together to be able to solve it. It is very evident that this can only work though if the police and the community have a good relationship. Police departments are only effective when the community trusts the police officers and are willing to work with them, if the relationship is good the people can be utilized to save time, money and resources.
Another example of using the community in order to save money and help the police department be more efficient is the use of Police Reserve Officers.(Larson et al., 2008) Using Police Reserve Officers is financially rewarding to a police department, especially if it is on a volunteer basis. The San Diego Sheriff’s department and the San Diego Police Department utilized Police Reserve officers and provided the data for the amount of money used to run the program and the amount of money saved by using the reserve officers; The benefits are many. (Larson et al., 2008) According to Reducing the Cost (2008) all of the agencies required their officers to work at least two days per month, their equipment needed to perform the job was supplied at a cost of around twelve hundred dollars per officer. The average cost for running a reserve officer program was around one hundred and thirty six thousand dollars. In 2008, the year in which this information was recorded, the average police officer made seventy two thousand dollars per year which totals out to about thirty seven dollars and fifty cents per hour. With all that information provided it was gathered that an agency with 81 reserve police officers working two ten hour days per month would save around sixty thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars per month or seven hundred and twenty nine thousand dollars per year. With all the money saved they can invest that money into other programs to reduce crimes and even prevent crimes from happening. Not only is the program financially beneficial though the program is also successful at forging a positive relationship between the police department and the community. The people who serve as Reserve Police Officers are regular people from all walks of life, who hold regular jobs. (Larson et al., 2008) Those people have pride in the police force and hold their values as their own therefore influencing the people that they work and interact with and influencing the public opinion of the department.
Another effective way of saving money and effectively combating crime is the Volunteer Citizen Patrol. The Volunteer Citizen Patrol is a part of the police department made up entirely of volunteers who complete tasks deemed as safe by the program. They “cordon off crime scenes, direct traffic, patrol the city’s fourteen parks, write parking tickets, assist with animal control, provide crowd control at events, check in parolees, assist with records processing, help staff DUI checkpoints, take reports on routine property crimes, serve as liaisons with the local district attorney’s office, and many other important duties.(Buntin, 2011. 36) Not only does this program save thousands of dollars for the police department, it also makes people proud of the state of their city. They want to help and they want the crime rate to drop, they like the do-it-yourself government they are provided with and have even implemented it in other areas like park rangers. It also frees up the full time officers so that they are able to take on tasks that require their expertise like tracking down drug dealers and other dangerous criminals. (Buntin, 2011. 36) The mundane tasks of giving traffic tickets and directing traffic which don’t prove to be dangerous can be handled by people trained to do mundane tasks.
Saving money in law enforcement agencies seems like a daunting task but when you are able to get the public involved it not only saves the agency money but it forges a relationship with the community that proves invaluable. More and more cities over the nation should start to use these methods to save money so that they are able to focus their funds and their efforts in other places in order to make our country a better and safer place to live.
References
Buntin, J. (2011). Voluntary Force. Governing, 24(7), 36.
Larson, J., Lewis, V., Kay, K., & Kelso, C. (2008). Reducing the cost of crime through reserve
police officers and volunteer citizen patrol . Research in Business and Economics
Journal, Retrieved from http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09316.pdf
Swanson, C, Territo, L , & Taylor, R (2008). Police Administration Structures, Processes and
Behavior. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
…………………….Answer preview……………………….
In the United States of America, the law enforcement agencies throughout the nation has faced challenges resulted by the current economic changes. Therefore, it is increasingly considerable that the law enforcement practitioners and the administration to work together to ensure the safety of the American community……………………………
APA
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