Community Policing Research Paper

Introduction Although policing in rural or urban areas are different geographically and demographically, underneath it all they both have to deal with the same issues of policing. They deal with staffing, politics, crime, crime prevention and the community. This is an in depth look at some of these issues in rural and urban areas.
Community Relations In order to understand the difference of police-community relationships between rural and urban areas, it is important to know the definition of police. Police is the “the department of government concerned primarily with maintenance of public order, safety, and health and enforcement of laws and possessing executive, judicial, and legislative powers” (Merriam Webster, n.d.) There are
It does not matter if an agency is a rural agency or urban agency, politics in policing is something that police leaders will have to deal with. Although community policing is one area that provides a new challenge in the politics of policing because it emphasizes significant changes in traditional police administrative and operational practices. (Carter, n.d.) Crime and crime prevention have always been important issues to the politicians and the constituents they represent. Politicians have increasingly viewed community policing as the most effective means to deal with crime while providing better public services at the same time, even though they do not fully understand the meaning of community policing. (Carter, n.d.) Community policing requires significant changes in law enforcement philosophies and practices, and because crime and crime prevention are major political issues, the police administrators must be prepared to respond to elected officials as well as their own employees. The process of implementing substantial changes in the field of law enforcement requires stealth political maneuvering, negotiating positions, bartering political influence, sharing information, assessing new directions, and responding to the diverse needs of a citizens, elected officials, and employees. (Carter, n.d.) It is no secret that politics is involved in law enforcement in urban and rural areas all across America. One just has to pick up a newspaper to see it. However, dealing with politics gets in the way of policing. Having to deal with the politics of policing takes the focus of the police leaders away from fighting crime and building up community relations and this is