Community policing and community-oriented policing are philosophies that we here at MovementForward, Inc. have adopted within our program structure to help bridge the gap between community and police relations. When delving into these philosophies, it requires officers to understand the issues in their respective communities and be willing to engage the community in developing responses to various problems.  This ideal could be implemented in various ways, whether that be informal programming, such as a police officer attending to their daily routine, such as walking around the community interacting with members. Or a more formalized program, such as our One Congregation One Precinct or “OneCOP” Initiative we have begun implementing in Indianapolis, IN. OneCOP is a national crime reduction, education, and police-community engagement initiative that focuses on reducing violent crime through community policing partnerships.

Programs, such as OneCop, allow for goal setting and documentation of officer involvement. It promotes officers actively working and engaging with their community members to resolve issues before they become more significant. Evidence has been shown that personal interactions between police officers and community members build mutual trust, which is essential to addressing neighborhood problems and reducing crime. It is especially helpful to implement these types of approaches when officers know and understand what resources are available to them in order to initiate this type of methodology. 

 (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Editorial Disclaimer: All blog posts are contributed by a member of the MovementForward, Inc. team in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in the posts are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of MovementForward, Inc. or any other partnership associated with the organization.