An Analysis of Community Oriented Policing for Drug Control

This essay advocates for community-oriented policing (COP) as an effective strategy for drug control. It contrasts COP with traditional policing, highlighting COP's emphasis on crime prevention, improved police-community relations, and reduced fear of crime. The essay details how COP involves officers working with communities to address drug-related issues, including prevention activities, inter-agency partnerships, and support for treatment and education. It also discusses the importance of adapting strategies when dealing with drug offenders, such as harm reduction methods and reintegration programs. The essay concludes by emphasizing COP's potential to improve police-community relations, enhance officer job satisfaction, and reduce crime rates, particularly in the context of drug abuse. The essay provides an analysis of the benefits of community-oriented policing strategies in combating drug abuse and crime in communities.

Community-oriented policing for drug control
Community oriented policing refers to a wide variety of policing measures used to
encircle all the innovations required to prevent crime as well as to solve the neighborhood
problems1. The aim of community oriented policing is to stop crime prior to its happening and
not responding to the calls made after the happening of the crime. It gives the citizens of the
community more control on the quality of life in their community. Community oriented policing
indicates that the police becomes a significant part of the community. As a result of this, police
can sense the needs and demands of the residents and further helps them to develop more trust in
the police2. It is an effective method to promote public safety and to develop the quality of life
inside a community. Community oriented policing has an important role to play in two aspects;
to develop the community and police relations and solving problem that may breach the safety
and peace of the community and its people3. In this essay, the Community oriented policing for
drug control is supported because of the many favorable causes. The essay discusses the
importance of the community policing for controlling drug and hence it must be supported.
Community oriented policing particularly for drug abuse must be supported because of
the following reasons;
Preventing crime: Traditional method of policing having emphasis on the motor patrols is seen to
have limited success to deter and control crime4. Crimes like drug abuse together with larceny,
1 McCarthy, Molly Miranda, et al. "The effect of community-oriented policing on police use of force: does
community matter?." Policing: An International Journal (2019).
2 Hemmer, Joseph W. Exploring Police Beliefs in Community Oriented Policing and Community Trust: A Multiple
Case Study. Diss. Northcentral University, 2017.
3 Leventakis, Georgios, and Maria R. Haberfeld, eds. Societal Implications of Community-Oriented Policing and
Technology. Springer, 2018.
4 Kamalu, Ngozi C., and Emmanuel C. Onyeozili. "A Critical Analysis of the'Broken Windows' Policing in New
York City and Its Impact: Implications for the Criminal Justice System and the African American
Community." African Journal of Criminology & Justice Studies 11.1 (2018).

1
burglary have very low rate of clearance. The reasons being that the crimes are mostly
committed out of the notice of the motor patrols and mostly remained unnoticed and not reported
unless the offenders become unconscious and people find them out or they left the place.
Moreover, due to less number of police officers, proper patrolling is not possible because the
drug offenders practice this secretly either in home or in hidden places and thus never comes into
the notice of the police. Traditional policing focusses on charging the offenders after the offence
is being committed by the offenders. Community policing in the contrary put more emphasis on
prevention of crime and uprooting them.
 Improving relation between the police and the community: Community policing seems to
develop the relation of the police with the community by creating trust between them5.
COP allows opportunity for the police officers and the citizens to get to know one
another as people. The probability that the officers will misuse their authority also
reduces considerably.
 Decreasing the fear of crime: traditional method of policing do very little to reduce the
fear of crime that results into emotional pain and keeps the people isolated from the
offenders. Community policing programs address the incivilities.
 Establishing political support: in the period of limited budgets, a police department
requires support from the political departments6. Unless proper budget is allocated, COP
will not be able to work efficiently.
There will be always many challenges that are being faced by the law enforcing agencies.
The usage of drugs and its flow into the communities persist and hence crime rates rises in the
5 Wade, Lee M. "Social unrest and community oriented policing services." Journal of Human Behavior in the Social
Environment 27.6 (2017): 636-638.
6 Jenkins, Michael J. "Police support for community problem-solving and broken windows policing." American
journal of criminal justice 41.2 (2016): 220-235.

2
state especially among the young people7. In order to combat and control these issues, the
citizens are favoring the community oriented policing for the drug control. When a drug
offender is encountered by an officer, he has many options to follow. He can directly arrest the
offender, transfer him to the rehabilitation centre or send them to home. The strategies followed
by the officers are often affected as well as influenced by the philosophy of the department or
unit of the officers. Since 1990, many departments have adopted the philosophies in order to
reduce the crime rate8. Such philosophy incorporates strategies that put focus on cooperation
and synergy with the neighbourhood citizens and community mainly instead of traditional way
of crime fighting.
It cannot be denied that most of the social problems are created due to usage of drug like
murder, theft, prostitution leading to STDs and many more. Few of such problems can be
handled in a better way by policing methods that are focused mainly on reducing harm instead of
reactive ways employed in many cities. This model also offers a cost benefit method for the
professionals belonging to criminal justice in order to bridge the gaps between control of crime,
use of drug and public health providers.
The Community oriented policing (COP) has the objective to modify the relation between
the community and the officers by replacing the reactive and impersonal method of traditional
policing with more proactive and personal community oriented approach. The most significant
difference between the traditional method of policing with community policing is seen in the
roles of the COP officers. The COP has its main emphasis on solving problems of the citizens
7 Weisel, Deborah Lamm. "Street prostitution in Raleigh, North Carolina: a final report to the US Department of
Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services on the Field Applications of the Problem-Oriented Guides
for Police Project." (2016).
8 Crowl, Justin N. "The effect of community policing on fear and crime reduction, police legitimacy and job
satisfaction: an empirical review of the evidence." Police Practice and Research 18.5 (2017): 449-462.

3
and working with them9. In addition to these, COP also needs that the officers belonging to it
must learn new and latest skills, gain knowledge and maintain proper attitude while causing
modification of their traditional skills as police. The new skills comprise of working with the
local people as partners while solving any problem, making demonstrations and presentations to
the community and also involving public as well as non-profitable agencies for improving the
community efforts. Such latest role needs modern attitudes to the community residents, towards
the policing duties and most significantly towards the ethics for enforcing law10. Residents are
not regarded as the part of the problems but on the contrary, they become the partners to look for
solutions. Policing objectives remain the same, but the ways to achieve these goals change from
focus on fast response, reactiveness and arrest finally to a dynamic strategy of solving problem
and involving community.
In order to understand about the community policing, it is significant to know what is not
COP11. To simplify it, it can be said that Community oriented policing is not found to be soft on
crime. It is not even a top-down approach. Neither it is risk free nor can it be considered as a
quick fix. In the following part of the essay, each of the point of difference will be discussed in
brief.
The Community oriented policing does not indicate that the officers cannot make arrests
or can refuse answering calls for service. COP cannot even convert officers to social workers.
Like any other police officers, the COP officers make arrests but they make arrests as one of the
9 Boettke, Peter J., Jayme S. Lemke, and Liya Palagashvili. "Re-evaluating community policing in a polycentric
system." Journal of Institutional Economics12.2 (2016): 305-325.
10 Weegels, Julienne. "Implementing social policy through the criminal justice system: youth, prisons, and
community-oriented policing in Nicaragua." Oxford Development Studies 46.1 (2018): 57-70.
11 Donnermeyer, Joseph F., Walter S. DeKeseredy, and Molly Dragiewicz. "Policing rural Canada and the United
States." Rural Policing and Policing the Rural. Routledge, 2016. 37-46.

4
tools for solving community problems. Other strategies that can be adopted are taking input from
the community residents or seeking help from other city agencies as a part of policing.
COP also prefers fundamental changes in the paramilitary structure by imposing more
authority, power, responsibility as well as accountability to the officers12. COP also requests the
supervisors for empowering the officers by encouraging them to apply creative methods to solve
problems, by helping them in case they make any silly mistakes and also by allowing them the
autonomy and freedom for solving problems inside the communities13. The supervisors must not
dictate such changes instead they include officers and provide support to the staffs from all the
levels of the association for planning as well as implementing them.
While dealing with offenders of drug use, different approach is to be adopted. As per
various researchers, harm reducing method will be more useful to these types of citizens instead
of jailing. The researchers at many times further state that the citizens may get more benefits if
they are granted assistance from healthcare providers. It is often realized that the community will
be harmed less if the drug offenders are removed from interacting with other members of the
community. There are several methods followed within the COP programs which can help to
reintegrate the drug population back into the society, thus giving them opportunity to get back
into the society14. Instead of isolating this population, they are given an opportunity to survive in
the society with other people without drug use.
12 Perry, Gali, Tal Jonathan‐Zamir, and David Weisburd. "The Effect of Paramilitary Protest Policing on Protestors'
Trust in the Police: The Case of the “Occupy Israel” Movement." Law & Society Review 51.3 (2017): 602-634.
13 de Maillard, Jacques, et al. "Different styles of policing: discretionary power in street controls by the public police
in France and Germany." Policing and society28.2 (2018): 175-188.
14 Hemmer, Joseph W. Exploring Police Beliefs in Community Oriented Policing and Community Trust: A Multiple
Case Study. Diss. Northcentral University, 2017.

5
In order to control drug use15, the Community oriented policing had adopted many
preventive activities which are as follows;
 By participating in the inter agency partnership with public health and social service
organizations for increasing the drug abuse services in the community,
 By increasing the treatment opportunities to cure drug abuse in the society,
 By supporting education related to drug abuse in schools,
 By organizing drug awareness camp in the community schools, offices, localities,
 By allowing support towards preventive activities encircling drug abuse out of schools,
 By making promotion of youth recreation activities which may prevent the abuse of drug
like a police athletic match,
 By encouraging people to take part in training about prevention and control of drug
abuse.
With the help of these measures, the officers working in Community oriented policing
the more support they will receive from the community; the more likely they are able to
participate in foot patrolling, cooperative projects, formal training and others. In addition, they
prefer more to work with the community members directly in order to identify and solve the
problems. They even seek government help to reduce and prevent the problem by meeting and
interacting with the local non-governmental organizations and local agencies to resolve the
problems16.
15 Roberts, James Wyatt. "THE PERCEPTION OF COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING FROM A LAW
ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATION'S PERSPECTIVE." (2018).
16 Braga, Anthony A., Brandon C. Welsh, and Cory Schnell. "Can policing disorder reduce crime? A systematic
review and meta-analysis." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 52.4 (2015): 567-588.

6
However, it cannot be denied that COP is a risky way for solving problems in the locality17.
By encouraging the officers to be creative and to take initiatives while dealing with the
community problems, COP can also result into mistake or failure. The officers must be well
aware of these consequences. In addition to this, COP is not devoid of risks and hence, to meet
new challenges, the officers must be well protected with safety equipment.
Though, community based method of solving problems can result into instant successes,
COP is a long term program and its impact on the local community shall not be absolutely
evident throughout the years18. This is particularly true while intervening with the juveniles.
Community oriented policing provides ample scope for the departments that are willing to apply
changes in the department, in the capacities of the supervisors and officers and in relation with
community. COP cannot make the crime vanish totally or can make all the residents to love the
police, however, it may improve the police- community relationship and forbid the crimes to
happen19.
Community policing has been seen to have great potential to improve the community police
relation, enhance the job satisfaction of the officer, reduce the fear of crime and finally reduce
the occurrence of actual crime. Moreover, officers who received greater support from the
community were inclined towards higher use of COP20. Moreover, officer who spent more time
in the COP were expected to result more positive impact to control the drug abuse offence. In
COP, the officers work with local community groups and organizations for reducing the demand
17 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Proactive policing: Effects on crime and
communities. National Academies Press, 2018.
18 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Proactive policing: Effects on crime and
communities. National Academies Press, 2018.
19 Crowl, Justin N. "The effect of community policing on fear and crime reduction, police legitimacy and job
satisfaction: an empirical review of the evidence." Police Practice and Research 18.5 (2017): 449-462.
20 Dunham, Roger G., and Geoffrey P. Alpert. Critical issues in policing: Contemporary readings. Waveland Press,
2015.

7
of drug and also the harm associated with drug usage. The officers prefer less interaction with
individuals but more with the community as whole21. Increased support and cooperation from the
community are likely to result into more use of the COP policy while managing the drug
offenders.
Thus in this study, relationship between the effectiveness of the COP with the control of
drug abuse in order to control it has been established. When an individual is detained by the
police officers for a non-violent drug offence, it is expected that will be entrusted with the duty
to choose the best course of action. Although traditional methods of policing may be required
while handling the violent or repetitive offenders, the drug offenders as well as the public will
get benefit and help from less strict or alternative form of punishments. This will help proper
control of drug by implementing community oriented policing in the society.
21 Cordner, Gary W. Police administration. Routledge, 2016.

8
References:
Boettke, Peter J., Jayme S. Lemke, and Liya Palagashvili. "Re-evaluating community policing in
a polycentric system." Journal of Institutional Economics12.2 (2016): 305-325.
Braga, Anthony A., Brandon C. Welsh, and Cory Schnell. "Can policing disorder reduce crime?
A systematic review and meta-analysis." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 52.4
(2015): 567-588.
Cordner, Gary W. Police administration. Routledge, 2016.
Crowl, Justin N. "The effect of community policing on fear and crime reduction, police
legitimacy and job satisfaction: an empirical review of the evidence." Police Practice and
Research 18.5 (2017): 449-462.
de Maillard, Jacques, et al. "Different styles of policing: discretionary power in street controls by
the public police in France and Germany." Policing and society28.2 (2018): 175-188.
Donnermeyer, Joseph F., Walter S. DeKeseredy, and Molly Dragiewicz. "Policing rural Canada
and the United States." Rural Policing and Policing the Rural. Routledge, 2016. 37-46.
Dunham, Roger G., and Geoffrey P. Alpert. Critical issues in policing: Contemporary readings.
Waveland Press, 2015.
Hemmer, Joseph W. Exploring Police Beliefs in Community Oriented Policing and Community
Trust: A Multiple Case Study. Diss. Northcentral University, 2017.
Jenkins, Michael J. "Police support for community problem-solving and broken windows
policing." American journal of criminal justice 41.2 (2016): 220-235.

9
Kamalu, Ngozi C., and Emmanuel C. Onyeozili. "A Critical Analysis of the'Broken Windows'
Policing in New York City and Its Impact: Implications for the Criminal Justice System and the
African American Community." African Journal of Criminology & Justice Studies 11.1 (2018).
Leventakis, Georgios, and Maria R. Haberfeld, eds. Societal Implications of Community-
Oriented Policing and Technology. Springer, 2018.
McCarthy, Molly Miranda, et al. "The effect of community-oriented policing on police use of
force: does community matter?." Policing: An International Journal (2019).
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Proactive policing: Effects on
crime and communities. National Academies Press, 2018.
Perry, Gali, Tal Jonathan‐Zamir, and David Weisburd. "The Effect of Paramilitary Protest
Policing on Protestors' Trust in the Police: The Case of the “Occupy Israel” Movement." Law &
Society Review 51.3 (2017): 602-634.
Roberts, James Wyatt. "THE PERCEPTION OF COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING
FROM A LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATION'S PERSPECTIVE." (2018).
Wade, Lee M. "Social unrest and community oriented policing services." Journal of Human
Behavior in the Social Environment 27.6 (2017): 636-638.
Weegels, Julienne. "Implementing social policy through the criminal justice system: youth,
prisons, and community-oriented policing in Nicaragua." Oxford Development Studies 46.1
(2018): 57-70.

10
Weisel, Deborah Lamm. "Street prostitution in Raleigh, North Carolina: a final report to the US
Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services on the Field
Applications of the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Project." (2016).