Introduction to Policing Strategies PDF

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO POLICING STRATEGIES
Introduction to Policing Strategies
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INTRODUCTION TO POLICING STRATEGIES 2
Introduction to Policing Strategies
The role of police officers in any society is to maintain law and order. In any normal
society there are always law abiding citizens, and those who engage in extra judicial activities.
That is what makes the society what it is. In an ever evolving 21st century world, maintaining law
and order can be very challenging for police officers (Uluturk, Guler, & Karakaya, 2017).
Thanks to technological advancements, crime is getting more sophisticated. This means that
crime investigation and prevention has to step up in order to be able to combat crime. As
urbanization continues to spread across the world, even more complicated societal problems are
emerging. Crime levels are also rising in urban areas (Kuo & Shih, 2018). In this fast-paced
world where criminal activity is on the rise, a multiplicity of policing approaches must be
employed by the police department if any success is to be realized against crime and disorder.
This paper presents a case study of a selected city in the United States of America as a model of
exploring how different approaches to policing can be used in the prevention and dealing with
crime and disorder.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse in District of Columbia
The identified district of interest for this paper is Washington DC. This is the capital city
of the United States of America. In a twist of irony it also tops the nation in terms of drug and
alcohol abuse levels. According to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental health Services
Administration of 2011, 11.3% of individuals of ages older than 12 were dependent on alcohol.
The availability of illicit drugs in the nation’s capital is a major contributor to the menace (Smith
& Alpert 2011). According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA), alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine are the most abused drugs in DC. SAMHSA

INTRODUCTION TO POLICING STRATEGIES 3
reports that in DC, politicians, government officials and lobbyists participate in seminars,
workshops, conferences and such related functions where alcohol is infused with wok. The levels
of overindulgence are high but people can hardly recognize this as a problem. The availability of
alcohol in virtually every quadrant of the nation’s capital is also an issue of grave concern. This
paper explores a number of policing strategies that could be employed in curbing the situation.
Third Party Policing
Third party policing is used in reference to the efforts by police to persuade or coerce
persons or groups believed to have a responsibility in controlling or preventing crimes to take
some form of responsibility for crimes in their locality (Smith & Alpert, 2011). Some say it is a
practice where police employ guardians of crime control especially in localities where crime
control mechanisms were hitherto lacking (Ratcliffe & Breen, 2017). During third party policing,
police will sometimes threaten action against the crime control guardians. These threats are
backed by a series of laws and regulations giving police authority to engage in third party
policing. Other times the approach is through a consultative process with the community
members.
Forms of Third Party Policing
Third party policing exists in a plurality of forms. Like already stated above, in some
departments, the agency might simply engage persuasive or coercive tactics against the crime
control guardians in order to find solutions for crimes within their policing program. In some
agencies, third party policing is established as a separate policing program (Sozer & Merlo,
2013). In such cases it’s a stand-alone section of the department and operates as an entity of the
police agency e.g. the Beat Health Program in Oakland, California. A model like this could work

INTRODUCTION TO POLICING STRATEGIES 4
in combating the disturbing levels of drug and alcohol abuse in DC. In California, the Beat
Health Program targets rental property owners. It engages the owners of the houses in a
coordinated effort to control drug-related disorder and crimes within properties they own. In
other jurisdictions like Britain, forms of stand-alone third party policing units are being
authorized by the state to work in conjunction with the local police in coming up with strategies
to fight crime and disorder in their areas (Rosenfeld, Deckard & Blackburn, 2014). The success
rates of this approach to policing are likely to be high because landlords would not wish to house
people who break the law and are likely to help police in identifying and reporting them The
District of Columbia would make meaningful progress in crime prevention using this approach.
In a majority of police agencies however, the third party policing approach is executed by
police albeit unconsciously. It happens many times even during routine patrols. They occur as
episodes in their daily activities without the framework of any programmed intervention
(Webster 2015). It occurs as ad hoc and spontaneous conversations with persons viewed by
police as having responsibility over control of crime in their neighborhoods. These include
individuals such as parents, bar owners and operators, property owners, and local government
workers. Sometimes if not most of the time, these persons or groups of persons are responsible in
a variety of ways (either directly or indirectly) for providing an environment that promotes or
aggravates disorder and crime (Smith & Alpert, 2011). In normal police activity these kind of ad
hoc talks occur without a systemized approach that consider ethical concerns. The police
department of DC could however achieve much more through a carefully thought out third party
approach that targets the aforementioned groups of people. In so doing, the department could
reign in on dens responsible for the peddling of cocaine, marijuana as well as liquor stores
selling alcohol to minors.