Police and Public Cooperation

Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca said, "He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it". Crime prevention is just one of the functions of the criminal justice system along with maintaining social control and punishing offenders, among other things. The question is, however, who is responsible for making sure that these tasks are met? Crime prevention and administration of justice is not solely the responsibility of law enforcement and the other branches of the criminal justice system but also the responsibility of those citizens whom the criminal justice system servers.

II. Public Responsibility to Criminal Justice

The public has a responsibility, although it does not always accept it, for working with law enforcement and the criminal justice system to maintain order and public safety. The people in the community know far better the need and issues of that community than do law enforcement. They know what the crime problems are, they know who commits them and when. Yet, for a cornucopia of reasons, many communities and citizens choose not to share this information with law enforcement. Instead they take on an "us v. them" mentality. However, what citizens should be doing is taking a proactive approach to law enforcement and crime prevention. One way that this can be done is by creating organizations such as neighborhood watch.

According to www.usaonwatch.org "...Neighborhood Watch has become especially practical in our current society, in which two-income families are the norm and many neighborhoods are deserted during the day. While criminals have attempted to use this statistic to their advantage, law enforcement has uncovered an important reality: the communities in which citizens have observed and reported suspicious activity have enjoyed lower crime rates." The public has a responsibility to watch for suspicious or criminal activity, to report crime and to cooperate with law enforcement to help solve crimes.

Another way that citizens can take on their portion of responsibility is by utilizing the citizen complaint process. Unfortunately, despite all efforts to thoroughly screen applicants and select only the best candidates, some people become police officers who have no business being so. For this reason, it is important for citizens to make formal complaints when they are truly mistreated or their rights are violated.

"Complaints against police involve the public in one-on-one situations, and often occur in critical and tense incidents. When legitimate, the incidents are serious breaches of trust to people in the community and investigations of misdeed must be conducted by a party neutral to the action. The public should not be discouraged from making legitimate complaints" (Pace, 180). By making formal complaints it allows for corrective action to me taking against the officer when needed and for the citizen to receive there own sense of justice. If the citizen cannot make or does not utilize the citizen complain process or if the complaint is not properly investigated he/she may then develop distrust or distaste for police in general.

III. Criminal Justice Responsibility to the Public

The predominate responsibility that law enforcement has to the public is uphold its part of the social contract. According the social contract society gives up some if its rights with the promise that it will be offered protection and order maintenance by the state. Because society has give up rights by allowing itself to be governed by laws, law enforcement has the responsibility to maintain social order in the community. This must be done with or without the help of the public.

The police have a responsibility to treat the public fairly and the public expects and desires this. For this reason I believe it is crucial for police to build a rapport with the people in the community that they serve. I am convicted that if the citizens feel that the police are fair and that the police respect them, citizens will be more cooperative with law enforcement and more like to report crime (be proactive). In order to build this rapport the police must be more accessible and approachable; they must come out of their cruisers and interact with the community. As said by an article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, "The ability to communicate effectively and build rapport stands as one of the major contributors to a police officer's success in dealing with the public." I am confident that if police have a strong rapport with their community, crime rates will go down. When the public trusts the police to protect them and to help them with their problems they have no need to take the law into their own hands. For this reason I feel the police rapport will lead to a decline in violent crime and frustration-induced crime. When citizens have a mutual respect with the police they will take more pride in their community and this will lead to a decrease in property crime. When crimes are committed, the citizens will be more cooperative to the police and willing to provide them with information about what is really going on in their neighborhood. This will then lead to a higher occurrence of solving crimes and apprehending criminals. Not only is it the responsibility of police to treat the public fairly and build rapport but it is also in the best interest of law enforcement.

Finally, law enforcement and the criminal justice system have the responsibility to educate the public. Law enforcement should have open lines of communication with the public and should be informing them of crime of trends and issues in policing. One way of educating the public is through citizens academies such as the FBI Citizens Academy. "This annual six-week event is designed to strengthen ties between law enforcement and community leaders. Participants, selected through a nomination process, gain a better understanding of the mission and programs of the FBI and get a 'behind-the-scenes' look at how various crimes are solved. Through interactive scenarios, students learn about evidence collection, current crime trends, and how cases are prosecuted after the investigation is completed" (http://sandiego.fbi.gov/academy.htm). Other local departments also have similar programs where the public is educated on crimes and issues in the community as well as how police respond to this issues and what the difficulties are. These programs have been successful in building police and public understanding and cooperation. Law enforcement should consider educating the public in ways such as this as a responsibility.

IV. Conclusion

In order for law enforcement to serve the public in a paramount and most effective way, law enforcement and the public must work together and present a united front against crime and public disorder. While law enforcement is responsible for fighting this battle it cannot be done successfully with out assistance and cooperation from the public. The public must be proactive and involved in the policing of its own community and law enforcement must fairly uphold its part of the social contract and help and educate the public on how it can help itself. Both sides of this equation should hold themselves personally accountable for the proper functioning of the criminal justice system.

Works Cited

http://www.usaonwatch.org/AboutUs/AboutUSAOnWatch.php , April 12 2008

http://sandiego.fbi.gov/academy.htm , April 12, 2008

Pace, Denny F. Community Relations Concepts. California. Wadsworth/Thompson Learning. 2003

Sandoval, Vincent A. and Adams, Susan H., FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin; SUBTLE SKILLS FOR BUILDING RAPPORT, Aug2001, Vol. 70 Issue 8, p1, 5p, 1bw