Community Policing and Collaboration: Implications of a Flat World

1. Community Policing and Collaboration: Implications of a Flat World William Wells Center for the Study of Crime Southern Illinois University Carbondale March 31, 2006

2. The Flat World • The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (2005) • By Thomas L. Friedman • It is more possible today than at any other time for more people to collaborate • “. . .a global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration – the sharing of knowledge and work – in real time, without regard to geography, distance, or, in the near future, even language.” (p. 176)

3. The Flat World • What are some of the implications of a flatter world that are relevant for policing? 1. The playing field has shifted from top down (vertical) to side to side (horizontal) operations • Management practices change from command and control to connecting and collaborating • The small can act big; fosters individual imagination • (Innovative) Responses result from horizontal collaborations between actors and groups more so than from top down approaches. Distinct specialties with unique values can be combined

4. The Flat World • Implications (continued) 2. A connecting and collaborating approach means sorting out is necessary • One implication of horizontal collaboration is that is might create strange bedfellows • Power must be shared

5. The Flat World • Implications (continued) 3. Trust is necessary for a flat world. Threats can’t paralyze • Trust facilitates openness, innovation, and flattening. Trust allows for barriers to be knocked down and friction to be reduced • Greater collaborating means more interactions between people who are not familiar with one another.

6. The Flat World of Policing • Police reliance on public support and cooperation; importance of collaboration • Policing innovations, including community policing, appreciate the importance of collaboration and have advocated for developing new collaborative relationships and enhancing existing ones • Several examples illustrate the flat world of policing

7. Evidence St. Louis consent-to-search program • Intended to reduce youth gun violence by targeting high risk youths and searching their homes for guns • Idea resulted from a police – community meeting • Parents gave consent for searches of their homes • Guns seized but no prosecutions (trust) • Collaborative rather than top-down; goal was to get guns out of kids’ hands, not necessarily arrests

8. Evidence St. Louis consent-to-search program • Early success of the program has been attributed to the degree of collaboration • Citizens identified homes to search (trust) • Officers were assigned to geographic area and used a non-confrontational approach • Community support for the program • 98 % consented; 510 guns seized in 18 mos.; average of 3 guns seized per house

9. Evidence St. Louis consent-to-search program • Second phase of the program focused on using search warrants and making arrests; little collaboration; few consent searches • Fewer guns seized (6% of the total seized during Phase I) and less community support • National Research Council (2005, p.236): the program placed a “premium on effective communication and trust with the community not found in most problem-oriented policing projects.”

10. Evidence Crisis Intervention Team • Police responses to persons with a mental illness (PwMI) • Innovative approach is CIT (Memphis, TN PD) • Goal is to link PwMI in crisis with the most appropriate services and avoid arrest when not necessary • Two primary components

11. Evidence Crisis Intervention Team • Recent attempt to implement CIT in Lafayette, IN • Led by the efforts of local advocates – NAMI – WCI • Strong degree of cooperation from 5 police agencies that serve the greater Lafayette community • Working relationship between police agencies and local mental health service providers was poor • Difficult for officers to link PwMI with MHSP • Officers reported poor working relationships with MHSP

12. Evidence Crisis Intervention Team • Working group to build consensus for changing current responses to PwMI • Representatives from key local agencies and stakeholders • Relationships with MHSP never materialized / improved

13. Evidence Crisis Intervention Team • Results • CIT training • Evidence of positive outcomes from the training • Response options for police officers remain unchanged • Some of the most important barriers to more effective responses to PwMI remain • Without collaboration with key agencies the reform will not realize its full potential

14. Evidence Community Policing • Police collaborations with a host of different “communities” and social service agencies is a central dimension of community policing • Effective responses to complex problems requires more than just the police • Positive relationships are inherently valuable

15. Evidence Community Policing • Distinction between community involvement and community collaboration • “Involvement” is superficial • Collaboration represents power sharing • Decision making is a shared process • Multiple actors / groups shape the efforts, not just the police • Problems to address • Responses • Acknowledging different agendas

16. Evidence Community Policing • What are community policing agencies doing? • Partnership building tactics have grown • Community meetings and surveys; joint crime prevention; citizen action / advisory boards (Roth et al., 2000) • Engaging residents, advocates, businesses, and government agencies • Purposes include problem solving and improved communications • Multiple actors / groups engage in problem solving activities • In many cases the forms of communication are limited to one-way approaches (citizen police academies) • Some reluctance to share power and allow for meaningful community input (Roth et al., 2000)

17. Conclusions • Like businesses, police agencies recognize the value created by a flatter world where greater collaboration is possible • Evidence suggests that police have the opportunities to collaborate in successful ways • A commitment to true collaboration, not mere involvement, is required • Trust and sharing seem to be critical dimensions • Can be assisted with two-way, symmetrical forms of communication (true public relations)