Precise community policing is becoming more popular since it brings the police force and the community together. Despite many community members’ willingness to join the police force’s noble endeavors, some other people still don’t support these actions actively.
The scenario is crystal clear to observe during monthly donut with cop sessions that the police hosts monthly in most cities. These trust-building and feedback exercises often face limitations that could stunt the progress of the excellent work the force began. Some of these limitations are:
Short Meeting Time
As important as protecting society is, work must go on. So these feedback sessions can only run for so long. Usually, their run time is about 30-minutes, which leaves people with little time to voice their opinions.
Unavoidable Bias
As much as we like to believe the legal system is completely black and white, every human being is understandably prone to bias. Some community members may feel like they do not have proper representation in the police or people who understand them. Likewise, some law enforcement members unconsciously brush some people’s opinions due to (race, gender, sexuality, and more).
These unavoidable biases on both sides of the law pose a threat to these feedback sessions. While it’s nearly impossible to permanently eliminate our discrimination, creating a system where people can build trust without the need to reveal specific information about themselves is an excellent way to start.
Inadequate Representation
In most communities, gathering every single member will be challenging, so they sometimes nominate representatives that stand in for them. Some members of society use the noble acts of the citizens and the state to push their “personal” agenda. Those reps are not always the best means to get individual feedback. So it is better to find a platform that can accommodate individuals.
Fear of the Police
As much as the excellent work of police officers is as clear as daylight, the reputation of a few bad apples spread fast. These bad cops usually breed fear in many people, so they avoid these meetings like the plague. Additionally, the United States has a diverse body of people from various backgrounds. And some of these people grew up in fear of the police. Building trust with them will take a lot more work than these sessions can handle.
Summary: A Remedy For These Challenges
While all these challenges are seemingly insignificant, they pose a threat to societal safety and the bond precise community policing creates. An efficient and straightforward fix is to use online feedback systems like officer survey to give everyone a voice. Most police departments also try to integrate members into communities to build stronger bonds (a practical solution that takes time). Eventually, the main concern is for the safety of the masses and for people to feel heard.
