10504917Police Community Relations
Course Information
Description
This course examines the history of community policing, problem-oriented policing, community responsibilities, media relations, and evolving strategies. Students analyze criminal justice organizations including human resources management, research studies, environmental factors, centralized authority, and other issues.
Total Credits
3
Course Competencies
  1. Summarize the eras of policing and how they relate to the concept of community policing
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Define community policing
    Explain Sir Robert Peel's principles
    Describe the four dimensions of community policing
    Identify essential elements and dimensions of community policing

  2. Compare the role of the police and the role of the community
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Explain the establishment of "public peace" in the United States
    Define community
    Explain the broken windows theory in relationship to a community
    Identify elements of community demographics
    Identify demographic trends shaping the U.S. population
    Describe the power structures of a community

  3. Examine problem-oriented policing and problem solving
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Explain how problem-oriented policing is used to identify problems and determine possible causes
    Determine how a problem solving approach supports efficiency and effectiveness
    Identify the first step in a problem-solving approach
    Describe the four stages of problem solving in the SARA model
    Summarize the purpose and goal of the DOC model
    Analyze the use and focus of crime mapping
    Evaluate current technology used in problem solving

  4. Summarize police culture, image, expectations, and discretion
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Outline how police spend their time
    Explain the makeup of the police force and recent changes
    Identify sources that affect and shape the police image
    Explain why discretion is exercised by police agencies and officers
    Recognize when police are authorized to use force and the level and amount of force allowed
    Describe the building blocks of ethics

  5. Assess the public-private policing interaction
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Explain the rise of privatization within the community and police departments
    Identify ways in which police and private security are cooperating

  6. Assess the use of technology for problem solving, including crime mapping and geographic profiling
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Describe technology used to identify similarities in incidents indicating a need for problem-solving
    Describe technology used to conduct basic analysis, such as crime mapping and geographic information systems
    Define hot spots
    Explain the crime mapping technique of geographic profiling
    Explain the least-effort principle in geographic profiling

  7. Describe occupational socialization and how it influences officer's self-image
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Explain how organizational and occupational practices are internalized as part of occupational socialization
    Describe what makes up self-knowledge, such as inferring from personal characteristics or qualities from past behaviors
    Identify how constructing self-concept through formal lessons or training impacts police identity
    Describe how individuals preserve group norms by changing a response choice
    Explain how work-style attitudes remain stable or change to cope with changing policing strategies, job functions, calls for service, and subjective outlooks

  8. Compare and contrast the relationship between police and public/media efforts and role expectations
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Identify common goals promoting the mutual dependence between police and members of the media
    Identify the amendment that protects freedom of the press
    Identify the guiding amendment for police in their relationship with the public/media
    Explain reasons for not giving information to the public/media
    Determine the most influential factors in the police-media relationship
    Describe how the rights of media can be at odds with the constitutional obligations of the police
    Summarize improvement strategies in public/media relations and police

  9. Analyze the complaints of minorities against the police and the counter complaints of the police
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam

  10. Interpret the link between collective behavior and civil disobedience

  11. Illustrate the Citizen Complaint Against the Police process
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Map out typical steps in the citizen complaint process
    Describe common allegations in citizen complaints against the police
    Incorporate citizen complaint data from the U.S. and/or regionally

  12. Summarize the relationship between police and “special populations”
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam
    Criteria
    Explain the communication process
    Identify barriers to communication that police officers confront
    Summarize the dilemma law enforcement officers face when interaction with immigrants
    Explain the difference between prejudice and discrimination
    Identify the disabilities police officers frequently encounter when interacting with citizens
    List the special challenges posed by persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease
    Explain the importance of effective communication with victims of and witnesses to crime

  13. Analyze the relationship between police administrators and politics and how this affects the nature of police-community relations and community policing
    Assessment Strategies
    Written Product, Presentation, and/or Exam

This Outline is under development.