Police strategy assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Police strategy assessment - Assignment Example In addition, the duty of the law enforcement agencies to reduce the fear of crime among members of the public makes their work rather tricky. To execute their duties effectively and achieve their objectives, police departments have to establish productive operational strategies using all the available resources such as money, personnel, equipment, and weapons (Allen, 2005). Moreover, there is need for the law enforcers to incorporate the pubic/community into their operational strategies as researches have shown that community involvement in crime-fighting has resulted in tremendous reduction in citizen fear/sense of insecurity and crime prevalence in many metropolitans. The nature and level of public involvement however depends on the nature/type and the prevalence of crime targeted. Among the crimes for which operational police strategies are established, implemented, evaluated, and reformed include robbery, rape, burglary, arson, robbery with violence, and theft among other crimes (Allen, 2005). This paper explores the use of the police operational strategy of community policing in fighting the crime of burglary in metropolitan neighborhoods. The Definition of Burglary Police departments in major metropolitans in the world are faced with myriad disorder problems or crimes. To prevent, control, manage, and predict the occurrence of these crimes and disorders, police departments establish and implement various policing strategies. Among the most commonplace crimes in many metropolitans is burglary. Whenever burglary is mentioned, among the terms that come to mind are forceful, breaking, and entering (Dressler, 1995). According to common law burglary would simply be defined as the act of forcefully entering another person’s property with intent to commit a crime. Therefore the most important inclusion in the definition of burglary is forceful entry. Nevertheless, detailed definitions of the crime of burglary vary from one jurisdiction or state to another. However, certain aspects come out as distinct for burglary, differentiating it from other crimes such as simple theft. For instance, burglary is always accompanied by forceful entering, breaking, and intent to commit a felony. There are numerous types of burglary, depending on the severity and the manner in which the act is committed. Nighttime burglary, the more serious type of burglary, refers to a breaking and entering committed at night. Some law enforcement agencies or states also define burglary as an inchoate/undeveloped crime, implying that the mere act of intruding into another person’s house is harmful in itself (Dressler, 1995). However, it regarded as an incomplete offense as only the security and the safety of the house or premise broken into is compromised. Police departments have therefore established and implemented a number of policies by which the prevalence of the crime of burglary could be predicted, prevented, controlled, and managed effectively. The eff ectiveness of these policies however varies, depending on the precision and the thoroughness of their implementation. Police Operational Police Strategies To enforce the laws targeting burglaries, there are numerous policing operational strategies that could be applied. While some of these strategies are designed to prevent crimes from occurring, other are tailored to handle routine crimes or emergencies. Similarly, while some of these strategies are short-term, others are more complex and target long-term