Community policing in Canada vs. Australia

COMMUNITY POLICING IN CANADA vs. AUSTRALIA
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(08 November 2012
Community Policing
Community policing is defined as a policing approach that promotes independence and responsibility sharing between the police and the community with the aim of promoting safe and conducive environment for every individual. Through community policing, it is possible to establish a very resourceful relationship between the police and the general public that can help in dealing with criminology in the community. This is possible because the community and the police will be discussing crime and safety issues together, hence a joint solution will be determined and implemented by all involved parties.
There are three concepts of community policing, such concepts include community partnership, support systems, and problem solving. Community partnership refers to collaboration among law enforcing agencies, organizations and individuals in developing solutions to various problems they encounter in their day-to-day life, apart from increasing trust between the public and police. Organizations involved in community partnership include "Other Government Agencies other than police, Community Members or Groups, Nonprofits/Service Providers, Private Businesses, Media" (Anderson 2000).
Community partnership needs support systems to ensure effective problem solving processes. This is very important in aligning organizational management, organizations` structures, personnel and information systems.
People dealing with community-based policing problems face the problems in making quick fix solutions. However ensuring effective long lasting solutions, it is important to determine the source of the problem, and the factors causing the problem. To achieve this, problem solving process involving active and systematic examination of the problem is necessary, and this is the basis of SARA Model. According to Eck and Spelman (1987), SARA stands for:
Scanning: this involves identification and prioritization of the problem.
Analysis: this is carrying out the research to determine the source, and underlying factors causing the problem, and the effects of the problem.
Response: this is the development of long lasting solutions to either reduce the effects of the problem, or alleviate the problem itself.
Assessment: this entails evaluating the response strategy to determine its successes or failures.
Canadian policing in the past
In Canada, before the emergency of community policing, police force was viewed as being an oppressive unit. This is because people were being brutally treated, hence the public viewed the police as being promoters of discrimination and unjust. This continued till when Halton Region Police service was formed.
Halton Regional Police service was the first community policing agency in police department in 1975. The agency carried out its responsibilities in Halton municipality which had a population of less than 500,000 people. However, the through implementation of its responsibility started in 1982. It is at this time that a "proactive policing squad was created and deployed in the areas experiencing high crime rates" (Halton Region, 2008). At this time, the aim of community policing was to create a good relationship between the police and public.
Moreover, to carry out its responsibility, the squad was to continue responding to the needs of the community by combining preventive, proactive and reactive policing measures, by using constable generalists` concepts supported by participatory management. At this time, community policing philosophy in Canada emphasized on prevention of crimes through favorable conditions that enhances less illegal activities. In 1985, community conference committees were introduced into the Canadian community policing by community members to meet amongst them to discuss problems and complains raised by their communities. At this time, patrols by traditional platoons underwent various changes to ensure proactive policing strategy. In the new strategy, patrolling officers were to spend a better part of their time undertaking community policing other than looking for criminals. Moreover, administrators saw the need of developing a community policing vision to reflect their philosophy (Macleod & Schneiderman 1994).
Another phase of community policing introduced to Halton Regional Police service was organizational management structure. This was introduced after identifying obstacles hindering quantity and quality of the service. This management structure enhanced team policing by flattening out the management structure. As an effect, various divisions were created with the aim of incorporating community involvement in problem solving processes.
Today`s Canadian Policing
Though the responsibility of creating criminal law is vested in the federal government, but the responsibility of administering justice including policing is vested in province administrations as stated in the detailed provincial act. However, only Quebec and Ontario provinces have been operating their provincial forces, while other provinces have outsourced Royal Canadian Police to carry out policing issues in rural and municipal areas. Nevertheless, after reaching a particular population size, municipalities are required to carry out their own policing issues.
The Canadian community policing today aims at providing policing responsibility for the community in collaboration with the community, other than offering community policing to the community. The involvement of the Canadian citizens in community policing processes, law enforcing agencies have been in a better position to develop effective problem-solving strategies and techniques that have dealt with crimes successfully. The agency has also adapted to the modern police management principles by adopting a community policing model, which has flattened the organization`s management structure further, apart from decentralizing its authorities to service delivery rank. For instance, cities like Halifax offer mini-police offices as a means of stressing community participation in accountability, however, Canadian policing is still police managed, as civilians are being treated as staff volunteers in police front offices.
Currently, Canada has standardized its community policing model throughout the country. As an effect, Canadian public police are obligated to offer their services to one or many municipals, to provincial authorities as well as the federal authority. On the other hand, commissioners and board members appointed by the government have the responsibility of overseeing policing issues, apart from investigating public complaints concerning police misconducts (Stansfield 1996).
The responsibility of police agency is to detect crimes and apprehend crime offenders. They are also charged with the responsibility of preventing crimes and loss of property. All these can be summarized as maintaining law and enforcing order. Previously, policing in Canada involved enforcement of criminal code, provincial acts and municipal by-laws with the aim of preventing crimes. Presently, Canadian policing involves crime prevention and service provision. To attain this objective, Canadian policing relies on crime reports and information provi...