Assignment : Problem-Solving with the Community
Engaging the community implies that the community is actively involved with the police department. Simply going to the community for inputs on problems is not engagement. Fully implemented community policing includes the community as part of actual responses and solutions to problems identified in the community.
In this assignment, you will get an opportunity to analyze actual problems solved in a community policing environment. Try to use the Scanning, Analysis, Response and Assessment (SARA) problem-solving model and look for effectiveness of engaging the community in solving a problem.
Visit the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing website (the link is provided in the Webliography) and read about a community problem that was solved with the assistance of the community.
These are actual problems and solutions; therefore, you may see natural variations in problem-solving and, hopefully, a variety of creative methods of solving community problems.
Submission Details:
In a minimum of 250 words, post to the Discussion Area your responses to the following:
Describe the problem that was solved and explain how the police agency effectively engaged the community in solving the problem.
Expound your reasons that led you to believe that the project was successful. Support your conclusions with information from your readings.
Note: Include an APA-formatted reference page that links back to your in-text citations and supports your recommendations. Remember, you cannot have only in-text citations or only references. You must have both because in-text citations and references link to each other.
Read all your classmates' posts and respond to at least two of them. Comment on the creativity or lack thereof regarding the problem-solving responses of the police departments.
Based on your readings, also comment on what else could have been done to more fully engage the communities or the police. You may cite another similar problem that was solved by another agency using a different approach.
Compare it with the posted approaches, challenging your classmates to offer alternative approaches to solve the problems.