Police

Updating the Structure of a Police Department
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Introduction
Numerous departments within the law enforcement agencies have often attempted
engaging the community whereas handling their responsibilities. Community engagement in
the policing activities is extremely essential since it often help the police to handle their roles
with ease. Assessing the present police department structure, there is a requirement to
incorporate more initiatives that would help the community policing and engagements.
Hence, this paper mainly identifies at least three of these initiatives that can enhance
community policing and engagements, and strategy of incorporating the identified initiatives
in the structure of the police department (1). Also, the report will include the training and
support that are necessary for the identified initiatives and how they can effectively fit within
the structure of the department; and the traits and skills needed for such initiatives would be
highlighted as required in the recruitment of the new officers in the field.
Three specific community policing initiatives
There are numerous community policing initiatives that can be utilized by the law
enforcement agencies to ensure that the relationship between the community and the policy is
maintained and intensified. The three main initiatives that can be applied includes the
geographic assignment od officers, de-specialization, and resource and finance. All these
initiatives all these initiatives would be encompassed in the structure at different levels in the
department and training to be conducted. In the hiring procedure, skills and traits would be
needed from the individuals who would be given the roles for the implementation of these
initiatives to ensure that the department operates as aligned to the plan.
Necessary training and support
There are various necessary trainings and supports that will be needed to ensure that
the identified initiatives work effectively in the new structure of the police department. In the
consideration of the geographic assignment of the law enforcement officers, the training that
would be implemented and needed for the officers to undergo includes understanding the
geographic areas under their jurisdiction, comprehending the difference in culture of
individuals living in these communities, and how they can effectively organize their binderies
(2). Besides training services that is a necessity, the police department would also require the
support of the government to promptly transcend the boundaries in the department’s
jurisdiction.
The second initiative that would need training and support of the officers
encompasses of de-specialization. The initial set of training that the officers would be
required to go through is being trained on how to handle multiple responsibilities, how they
would operate as a team and take the approach of the team in resolving certain issues within
the community, and how they would effectively manage intricate partnerships under nonspecialized units and teams applied in the community policing process. Apart from the
identified training needed in the particular areas, the officers would require the support of the
department at all levels to ensure that the management and leadership supports the officers.
The final initiative to be included in the structure of the department is the resources
and finance, in which, the law enforcement agency would need to train and be supported by
various agencies. The first level of training that the department would require is how
allocation of resources and finances is issued to various departments within the government.
The second level of training would encompass of how the department utilize the available
resources and finances for the benefit of both the police department and the community.
Another level of training would entail making necessary reports on hoe the allocated funds
and resources has been used by the department. Lastly, the department would be trained on
how to properly manage human resource. Besides the various level of training, this initiative
would need the support of both the federal and state government to make all the aspect of the
initiative operate effectively in the new structure of the police department. The allocation pf
resources would consist of both human resources and funds.
Fitting each initiative in the organizational structure
To promptly fit the identified initiatives within the current police department
organizational structure, it is essential to better comprehend who is given the responsibility of
these initiatives within the department. After considering this, the new department would
have geographic assignment of the officers after the operations captains. Thus, the captains
should issue the directions to the geographic assignment officers who would inform the shift
Lt their areas of operations. the second initiative, which should be fixed into the structure is
de-specialization that should be implemented at the lower level just before the sergeants and
the officers to undertake the community duties. This initiative is aimed at preparing the law
enforcement officers for multi-tasking and undertaking series of responsibilities while in the
field. The last initiative that deals with resources and funds allocation, should be
implemented just before the chief of the department. This is mainly because even the chief of
a given department should be trained on how to handle all the resources and funds allocated
to the department.
Initiatives’ enhancement on the relationship between the department and the
community
All the identified initiatives, if effectively implemented, are at a position to enhance
the relationship between the community and police department in various ways. The first
initiative, geographic assignment of the officers, would help in improving the services
rendered to the community members and would facilitate more contact between the citizens
and the police. Further, this would aid the establishment of robust relationship and mutual
accountability between the community members and the police department (2).
The second initiative, de-specialization, would be aimed at ensuring that the law
enforcement officers deployed can promptly undertake various roles. Hence, it would enable
the police department to avert depending on particular individuals to help in undertaking
certain duties primarily during emergencies. Therefore, all the officers in the field would be
at a position to quickly respond to any situation and aid in saving the lives of the community
members without delays, hence ensuring a safer community. Overall, responding to any
situation by any officer would increase service delivery to the community, thus strengthening
the relationship between the community and police departments (3).
The last initiative, resources and funds, as much as the funds and resources go handin-hand, the community can only benefit when the department has adequate human resource.
Therefore, if the [police department is trained on how to handle their officers and the
government has also offered adequate officers within the police department, then more police
officers would be deployed to assist in the community and effectively and quickly resolving
the issues regarding criminal activities in the community, since there are adequate police
officers in the department hence preventing under-representation. Additionally, with the right
quantity of the police officers in the field enduring the safety of the community, the
relationship between the community and department would be greatly enhanced (4). Overall,
all the three initiatives can, in different ways, enhance and strengthen the relationship
between the police department and community.
Important skills needed in recruiting new officers
Since the initiative requires an additional of the officers, the human resource
management of the police department would be needed to recruit new officers to take the
various roles established by the initiatives. However, the new officers to be hired must have
special skills and traits to enable them undertake their roles efficiently. All the three
initiatives would need new officers to have essential skills that the department would require
with their implementation. The geographic assignment officers would be expected to know
the geographic boundaries of the community where they would be deployed. they must have
experience in training the police officers, since being of a higher rank in the police
department is a necessity. De-specialization officers must possess the skills in handling
various roles in the police department, must possess the skills to train other officers and
effectively manage complex partnerships before training the officers on the same. Finally,
resource and finance officers must possess the skills of addressing the human resource issues,
finance management skills and the skills to balance between the finance allocation and
human resource within the police department.
Evaluating and measuring the traits and skills
The traits and skills of the law enforcement officers would be evaluated and measured
differently depending on the particular skills and traits required. For instance, comprehension
of the geographic boundaries would be assessed via practical analysis of the boundaries and
assess how vast the officer comprehends the existing boundaries. Training skills would be
practically analyzed since they would be given a sample of officers to train. Also,
qualification papers from recognized institutions would be used to analyze if the candidates
and officers presenting themselves for recruitment possess the skills that have been identified
(5).
Conclusion
The relationship between the police department and community vis reliant ion the
engagements between the two parties involved. To establish community policing, both the
community and police department must be engaged. Assessing thorough the current structure,
there are certain initiatives that could be implemented to enhance the community policing and
engagements, which includes geographic assignment officers, de-specialization, and resource
and finance. All these initiatives would be implemented in different levels in the existing
structure depending on the number of officers involved. When handled effectively, these
initiatives can easily enhance and strengthen the relationship between the police department
and community. Finally, the officers to take the roles in these initiatives within the structure
would be required to possess different traits and skills, since the police department would be
significantly transformed with the implementation of such initiatives.
Sources
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