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Implementing a community oriented policing program seems straightforward for municipal law enforcement agencies. City police officers are the appointed guardians of the communities they serve. They have no responsibility or stewardship for any other population other than the citizens of their town. They work and live among those they care for in a direct, familiar, and close connection.
Community policing relationships and responsibilities become less defined at the state level. Most state troopers serve and work in several different communities, which can make the citizen — police connection distant and detached. Decisions about which municipality to prioritize for community policing efforts can cause other towns to feel slighted or overlooked. Moreover, state police agencies must be careful to not overextend themselves by taking on local problems and issues that might distract them from fulfilling their primary missions. Finally, local law enforcement agencies may not appreciate the state police inserting themselves in local affairs. Although the following parody from the movie Die Hard portrays the FBI taking over a local situation, it provides insight to how local law enforcement officers sometimes view state and federal authorities.
There might be some state police officials who approach community oriented policing from a Stafford Act position . In other words, they might feel that it is the local police agency’s responsibility to build community relations, and if the local police department’s ability to respond to its citizen’s needs is exceeded, then the state police could supplement and assist. On face value, this might seem like a natural flow of things. However, it is imperative that all police agencies — federal, state, tribal, and local — do what is within their capacity to strengthen the police — citizen relationship.
The following are a few suggestions on how state police agencies might implement community oriented policing strategies and programs while not overlooking or offending communities or municipal police agencies.
- State police agencies should describe and define what their role in community policing is and share that vision with the public and the local police agencies. This could be accomplished through social media and multiagency meetings.
- The role of a state police agency’s involvement in community oriented policing should not stray outside of its primary missions. For example, if the state police agency’s primary missions are traffic safety and drug enforcement, the state police agency should avoid engaging in community issues and activities such as neighborhood watch programs, school events, or crime prevention education.
- Regular attendance at local government meetings in official capacity could cause confusion with the citizens and government officials. If the state police agency has properly communicated what their role is, local government officials will know when to invite state troopers to attend meetings to discuss issues pertaining to the state police agency’s mission.
- If the state police agency needs to hold a community meeting to educate or address issues related to their missions, local law enforcement representatives should be invited and be present.
- The state police agency’s community oriented policing guidelines and parameters should be conveyed to all troopers so they know what is expected of them and know what appropriate activities and efforts are.
While community oriented policing is the right thing to do for all levels of law enforcement, state police agencies have to be careful to not tread on the turf of the local police departments or overextend themselves by engaging in activities that are not germane to their historical role. Doing so could cause ill will between the state agency and the local agencies, confusion among the citizens, and less efficient policing overall. Community oriented policing needs to be structured and defined so that everyone at all levels knows where they fit.
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