Community policing and enforcement of the law can only be achieved through the joined efforts of both the members of the society and the police. There are those crimes that happen recurrently in a society, and no suspect or any links are established to the case (Grana, & Windell, 2016). This is the case of Officer James Armstrong, who discovers graffiti at the Riverside High School playing field. The officer who has background information about some of the criminal gangs acquired from a course attended recently recognizes the graffiti as an artwork that is related to a particular crime group. On informing the principal, the officer is notified that a similar graffiti was also found in the front parking lot of the school. The teachers and the staff of the school have expressed concerns about recent reports that indicate the intensification of gang activities in areas that surround the school. The school has an excellent record and has never been linked to any criminal activities, and that exonerates the students and staff. The Riverside high school seems to have a healthy organizational culture due to the several safety awards that it has won. The school is believed to have an outstanding conduct in the community. The spread of the gang activities to the region can have adverse effects on both the safety and the reputation of the institution. Residents are fearful that the historically safe and secure Riverside High School may be under a threat of violence itself.
As the chief of police in Riverside, it is my duty to come up with an appropriate plan to investigate the issue, conclude and come up with recommendations on how the issue can be resolved. The best approach to the security issue will be the use of the SARA model. This model presents a problem-oriented policing plan which seeks to simplify the process of problem-solving for the law enforcement officers (Clamp & Paterson, 2016). This approach divides this process into four simple steps that can easily be understood and implemented in the society. The SARA model was discovered in 1987 by a research that focused on problem-oriented policing approaches.
The issue of the criminal gang-related graffiti has raised fear and unrest among in the society of the Riverside high school. From the reports that have been received, there have been increased gang-related activities in the neighboring communities. It is therefore important that a thorough investigation is carried out to establish the underlying cause of the problem. It is also important to establish clues that can lead the authorities to the perpetrators of the gang-related crime (Grana, & Windell, 2016).
The SARA problem-oriented policing approach is supposed to start with scanning and identification of the main issue of concern to both the public and police. This first step will also involve identification of the impact of the issue of concern for both the society and the relevant law enforcement authorities in the areas. This process is supposed to identify the core problems which are brought by the security issue of concern. From there, the plan should come up with a broad spectrum of goals which are supposed solve the concerns raised. The security concerns/problems should be established whether they exist and the most critical selected for further investigations (Clamp & Paterson, 2016). In this case, the graffiti drawing on school property is a problem that has occurred twice. The fact that the graffiti is related to a particular gang makes it an issue of critical concern.
The next phase of the plan will be an analysis of the issue of concern which will primarily entail Identification and understanding the actions and events that should precede the problem detected. In the case given, the Graffiti drawn on the school compound are associated with a criminal gang, and therefore it is likely that the gang will take action targeting the school or its staff (Grana, & Windell, 2016). Extensive data regarding the graffiti and the operations of the gang believed to be responsible should be collected. This data will enable the security forces to derive and hypothesis on the reasons for the occurrence of the issue. The second phase of the plan will also entail researching on how cases related to the gang have been handled in the past and whether the solution was effective. Lastly, there is the need to narrow the scope of the issue as that’s the only way a connection can be established between the problem and the affected institution.
The policing plan will have response analysis as its third phase which will entail brainstorming and coming up with appropriate interventions for the safety concern. The security team will review cases of other communities which were faced by similar cases and how they handled the issues (Grana, & Windell, 2016). The team should then proceed and analyze all the interventions that have been applied in the past to similar cases. A single alternative intervention should be chosen and an appropriate response plan outlined identifying all the parties that will be involved in its implementation (Clamp & Paterson, 2016). The primary objectives of the response plan should be stated in a way that gives the whole plan a general sense of direction. The actions stipulated in the plan should be implemented at this point.
The last step of the policing plan will be an assessment of the outcome. This will entail an evaluation of whether the program was appropriately implemented. This phase will involve the collection of responses before and after the implementation of the intervention. The team will use both qualitative and quantitative information to establish whether the goals and objectives of the plan were achieved. There should be a continued assessment of the intervention implemented to ensure that it effectively solves the problem.
In the implementation of the proposed plan, it is important to note that the school has an outstanding organizational culture which has seen it win many safety awards. The region that surrounds the school has always been safe, and the cases of gang activities are the only cause of concern and unrest in the society (Clamp & Paterson, 2016). Lastly, the gang violence is believed to be the main reason for insecurity in the neighboring city of Rockville and therefore it is possible that the group is expanding to the riverside region. Consideration of all these factors will lead to an amicable resolution of the issue of security concern.
- Clamp, K., & Paterson, C. (2016). Restorative Policing: Concepts, theory and practice. Florence: Taylor and Francis.
- Grana, G., & Windell, J. (2016). Crime and Intelligence Analysis: An Integrated Real-Time Approach. Boca Raton: CRC Press.