Barriers and Strategies: Police-Community Relations in the City of Cauayan

Police Community Relations

Police Community Relations according to Abuyan-Obmerga in 2014 refer to the on-going and
changing relationships between the police and the communities they serve. This includes the issues of
cooperation, fear of police, violence and corruption. Police community relations is aimed at establishing
a dialogue with the police.

Almutairi in 2013 provided that in Social Exchange Theory, is based on cost-benefit analysis by the
engaged parties. The results of such analysis will significantly influence the relationship status. Applying
this theory, Police-community relationship as both parties are looking to maximize their rewards and
reduce their cost. The ability of the social exchange theory to explain the relationship process in the police-
community dynamic renders the theory a valuable asset to this thesis, as it is already a valuable and
effective theory in public relations discipline.

The ability of a law enforcement agency to effectively carry out community policing strategies is
another significant influencer on police-community relations and the necessity of force. As concluded by
Fenster,2016 the need for police and communities to work together to co-produce public safety. Advise
the law enforcement agencies to develop strategies and policies that reinforce the importance of
community engagement in managing public safety. Law enforcement agencies should regularly schedule
forums or establish citizen advisory committees to aid in crime prevention efforts as well as department
policies.

Square-Smith postulated that police officers are public servants, tasked to protect and serve.
Officers feel other external duties as assigned beyond the badge as one officer says from the study,
“mental health professional, school teachers, parents…that's not what community policing is community
policing should be engaging your community but both of you working together to help your community
get better.” Residents from the study agreed, “As far as policemen are concerned …it's not an easy
thing...it's not a fun thing but they have a job to do and we have as citizens we have rights as well …so I
think it's just as important that we interact with them on a positive note...not negative because as long as
it stays positive I think the outcome will be better for all involved.” Differing perceptions of community
policing may influence communication negatively, as both parties work to understand their roles as police
officer and citizen

Crime Prevention and Public Perceptions

Crime prevention is not a matter of applying technically-sound, quick-fix, simple solutions, but an
integrated series of community-based activities, backed by adaptive implementation and appropriate
evaluation. Thinking in these terms will allow crime prevention to remain as a government and community
priority. (Sarre, 2015)

Public perception of the police becomes disfigured. Experts define public perception as the
difference between an absolute truth based on facts and a virtual truth shaped by popular opinion, media
coverage and/or reputation.

To reverse this negative public perception, the Philippine National Police continues to reinvent
its policing system. It is implementing programs to regain public support and trust thus, it has adopted
the ideals of a strong police-community relation. However, while the programs are ideal, attitudinal
problems of some police personnel hinder successful implementation. (Philippine National Police, 2012)

Both police officers and residents in this study identified there must be a mutual understanding
of the role of police officer and resident and the importance of education, training, recognizing changes
in community dynamics and the willingness for collaboration to ensure the foundation strongly built
community relationships are continuously growing. (Square-Smith, 2017)

The perceptions of citizen’s interaction between the public and foot patrol officers as a non-
adversarial, non-combative, friendly approach; and car patrol officers as adversarial and suspicious, where
the presumption was citizens were a threat possibly warranting arrest.

The relationship between the police and citizens changed well, lack of citizen involvement results
in neighborhood decline and may be the cause of urban decay. Observations of citizens and questioning
citizen perceptions of neighborhood disorder may accurately reflect the problem. In addition to further
policy, interventions assistance for those triggers that cause citizens to retreat.

Mixed with these community-policing perceptions is an element of fear that circulates among
citizens. Fear as the beginning of crime or the moment disorder begins to accumulate. Fear sends signals
to the community that the control mechanisms have failed and deems the area unsafe, resulting in
changes to law enforcement’s policing of the area and further decline.

The failure of employing forms of community policing that used strategies that incorporated
stricter policing and zero tolerance focused on individuals has failed engagements/interactions between
police officers and citizens is a growing concern.

Principles governing community policing such as (a) a mutual reorientation toward

communication with the public, (b) dedication to problem solving, (c) commitment to the community’s
needs, and (d) dedication to the use of non-law enforcement skills for problem solving (Square-Smith,
2017)

Members of the police force had been treating people with respect and sensitivity and
maintaining a good working relationship with the people in the community. Patrol operations has
something to do with being visible to the people in the community which gives them a feeling of security
while taking away the opportunity from the would-be criminal. Some police officers persevere to finish
the task despite of the many obstacles that surrounds a case. The slight difference between the responses
of the young from the old group stressed that maybe the young group are more observant or more
involved in cases. (Laru-an & Beup, 2015)

In the exercise of their authority, Police Officers in Nigeria have malevolently violated the rights
of members of the public with impunity. This practice has earned them different derogatory names,
hatred and constant collision with the members of the public to whom they have sworn an oath to protect.
The police should work relentlessly towards redeeming their public image of underperforming, immodest,
brutal, corrupt and predatory force. (Zems, 2016)

Community security is regarded as the primary essence of police institution which deserve a
measure of respect and fair treatment. As it is, the police’s adoption of human right principles in their
professional conduct with the citizenry is a function of enabling socio-legal frame work and a range of
corresponding training components with which the police officers and personnel were exposed to. (Audu,
2013)

Community Participation

Public safety is the entire community’s responsibility, and it will not be as responsive or as
successful without strong collaborative partnerships. (Thompson, 2017) Community participation in crime
prevention activities has undoubtedly potential in reducing crime given that crimes are committed by
community members who are sometimes known by their neighbors. Effective partnership between police
and citizens in crime prevention activities is built around trust and faith citizens have in the police.
(Manaliyo, 2016)

Communities are safer and stronger when police do not see young people as potential criminals.
Teens are more likely to be victims that perpetrators of crime. Young people can be valuable assets-
partners in crime prevention with important wisdom to share. Participating youth developed a
neighborhood-specific brand strategy for a new crime stoppers campaign designed to encourage young
people engaged in conversations with both current and retired officers about the historic roots of
mistrust, the role that race plays in police-community interactions and the culture of not “snitching.”
(Center for Court Innovation, 2017)

In 2010, Varona found out that the governance of police reform in the Philippines should arguably
be based on a participatory system where the different views of the stakeholders involved, both the police
and the wider society, could be accommodated, so that the process of reform could be informed by as
broad a scope of experiences and knowledge as possible.

Community level civic participation is the most manageable level for collaborative efforts of this
kind, since participation is higher on social and political levels. It should involve participatory processes
involving mechanisms for enabling participants and stakeholders to reflect on decisions making, processes
involved the learning that will be gained.

Engaging the community, where able citizens become equals to each other and with the police to
collaborate for the deliberation and collective actions through various interests, institutions and
networks.

As a result, Kelling in 2015 highlighted the citizens’ perceptions regarding community policing
created via social and physical experiences, interactions with law enforcement and their environment
have changed. Resulting to citizen response to social and physical incivilities creating fear among citizen
retreating from areas infected with crime .

Finally, police departments, need to have a variety of tools available to address the specific needs
of the communities they support. Community oriented policing and police/community partnerships are
valuable tools allowing criminal justice agencies to capitalize on the resources of the community and other
agencies, thus extending the reach of their crime prevention efforts. (Lindberg, 2011) Part of mending
relationships between police and communities is giving officers a larger toolkit, empowering them with
crime-fighting strategies that do not lead to increased arrests or incarceration. (Center for Court
Innovation, 2017)

Barriers
 There are actual hindrances to this wholistic concept of Police Community Relations.

There are instances where community participation in crime prevention activities is grounded on
volunteerism, people with low income who struggle to put food on the table for their families are unlikely
to participate in crime prevention which is unpaid work. (Manaliyo, 2016)

Audu, 2013 reported that there is also communication gap between the police and community
in Nigeria and that there are far reaching implications of the gap on the community policing policy transfer
in Nigeria. First, the communication gap is on account of the prevailing norms, family values, traditions,
community network on account of religion, marriage, and occult beliefs. Second is the concern that
members of the public do not trust the police in Nigeria on account of huge perception of corruption.
Consequently, the community are not showing readiness to cooperate with the police in terms of giving
useful information that is capable of solving the problem of crime in the area.

In the Philippines, poor communication between the police and communities served as the
problem most frequently, in a variety of ways, by police and community members surveyed. When asked
what the main problems are when it comes to police community relations, police listed “language
barriers,” “connecting with the community” and “lack of meaningful communications on both sides” and
“lack of understanding of police practices” as obstacles in to better relations. The list is similar to the one
provided by community members, who listed “lack of communications,” “language barriers” and “lack of
relationships” as barriers to getting along with the police.

PNP members in Sampaloc, Quezon, perceived that the problems in the implementation of Police
Community Relations Program are due to the following reasons: policemen like to exercise their authority
too much, police are overbearing and conceited with their relationship with the people, police secretly
enjoy giving criminals a hard time, the people cannot be expected to work with the police and ties
between political entities and the police is perceived by the public as too close and results to suspicions
of favoritism or unequal treatment. On the other hand community members believed that the problem
in the implementation is police’ lack of understanding of the needs and interests of the people. (Abuyan-
Obmerga, 2014)

As a result, poor relations between community members and police can lead to feelings of
distrust, anger and fear. Citizens may think the police are prejudiced and have unfair policies. Police may
feel blame for all kinds of social problems, and think they don’t get credit for doing their jobs. Dialogue to
change programs help people build trusting relationships necessary for long-term change. People from
diverse backgrounds and experiences, and work together on solutions. (Abuyan-Obmerga, 2014)

It has been recommended that there should be Police-Community Relationships Building

1. Acknowledge and discuss with your communities the challenges you are facing. Controversial uses
of force and other incidents can damage relationships between police and their communities. Police
should consider establishing “duty to intervene” policies and other strategies for ensuring that if one
officer engages in misconduct, other officers will step and stop it.
2. Be transparent and accountable. Transparency is essential to positive police-community
relationships. When a critical incident occurs, agencies should try to release as much information about it
as possible, as soon as possible, so the community will not feel that information is being purposefully
withheld from them.
 3. Take steps to reduce bias and improve cultural competency. Many civil rights leaders and police
executives also recommend that officers at all levels receive training on diversity, implicit bias, and cultural
competency.
4. Maintain focus on the importance of collaboration, and be visible in the community. It is
important for the police to be visible in their communities and know their residents. Many people do not
interact with the police outside of enforcement contexts. This can result in people developing negative
associations with the police – for example, if the only contact they have ever had with police consisted of
receiving a traffic citation or calling the police to report being the victim of a crime. Finding opportunities
to interact with community members in a non-enforcement context helps to reduce bias on the part of
community members and police officers. Getting to know community residents helps both groups to
break down personal barriers and overcome stereotypes, and allows officers to learn which residents of
a neighborhood are law-abiding and which ones are not. Police executives often report that law-abiding
residents of high-crime neighborhoods resent it when police seem suspicious of everyone in the
neighborhood, and, for example, make pedestrian stops of young men who are on their way to work or
to school.

Police officials should see themselves as a part of the community they serve, and local government
officials, police leaders, and community members should encourage the active involvement of officers as
participants to help maintain the peace.

5. Promote internal diversity and ensure professional growth opportunities. Police agencies need
to present policing as a profession. Departments should work to recruit people who want to become
officers based on a realistic understanding that the large majority of police officers’ time is spent
addressing community requests and that actual “law enforcement” is a much smaller percentage of the
time. (US Department of Justice Community Relations Service, 2015)