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Community Variance and the Police Worksheet

Name

Institution Affiliations

Course

Professor

Date
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1. Most individuals hold memberships within, or have loyalties to, several external

communities at the same time. How might this complicate the ability of the police to

forge and maintain good working relationships with individual citizens? (200-250

words)

The various affiliations and loyalty that people who belong to different communities hold present

confusing expectations and perception about the police. People citizens may belong to a race and

religion that has had a history or continues to have contact with police forces, and the contact

may not be a friendly one. For instance, a black neighborhood where people have been

discriminated, or a Latino neighborhood which has been over-policed may have trust issues, into

which the police cannot penetrate and build good relations (Farrow, 2022). In contrast,

communities with more positive experiences may have friendly interactional relations with the

police. Such diverse views create challenges to police in their attempt to harmonize and promote

police field force to all these groups. Moreover, sometimes the adherence to their organized

groups may become a greater priority than the overall interest of the community, which in turn

may foster conflict in police encounter (Farrow, 2022). Police have to deal with all these factors

in order not to isolate people and, at the same time, ensure public order. Introduction reveal that

Policing is a multi-faceted phenomena that needs appropriate culturally sensitive approaches for

police-interaction with the targeted diverse groups.

2. Today’s “identity politics” refers to people segmenting themselves into specific

social groups (based on religion, race, gender, etc.), and then promoting only a

specific set of political viewpoints or goals that would best serve that particular

group. Some argue that an ideology promoting this type of division is self-serving at
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best, and profoundly destructive to community cohesion and safety at worst. Others

see no problem with this segmenting of society. Does the issue of “identity politics”

further complicate the task of police trying to find common ground with community

members, and trying to convince them that they are “on their side”? (300-350

words)

Identity politics poses a challenge to police’s efforts to seek unity with different communities

through presenting obstacles that are inherent. If people are mainly oriented at the primary group

and work only for its benefit, it splits community integration, which might be an issue for

impartiality in the appearance of the police (Losleben & Musubika, 2023). Police as agents of the

state with duties to safeguard people’s lives and properties as well as enforce the law impartially

are not likely to be perceived as beneficial to those groups that feel or have believed in the past

that the police are out to get them or persecute them (Losleben & Musubika, 2023). For instance,

the Black Lives Matter movement was initiated in light of police brutality against black people;

thus it became hard for police to interact with the black community without solving such core

issues.

Furthermore, identity politics can contribute to the sense of police bias where some groups feel

that the police protects other groups’ interests than theirs. This can aggravate the conflicts, thus

resulting in increased tension and eventual withdrawal from cooperation with the police (Gitlin,

2020). Meanwhile, some people insist on the idea that focusing on the interest of identity groups

is essential for fair policing. Depending on the particular interests of the people, the police can

adopt community policing policies which fit the various communities in the country needs, to

show that they are humane jurisdictions (Gitlin, 2020). However, it continues to be challenging
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to meet these particular needs while ensuring that no group is privileged at the expense of others

due to current political realities.

3. Given the intense division among racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines in

some communities today, how can police help to ease these divisions and encourage

communities to be united in creating a safe environment for all? (350-450 words)

To ensure that polarization is minimized in communities, police have to embrace principles of

integration, openness, and cooperation with the people. A major prevention strategy is the

community policing, in which enforcement personnel interact with the common community and

populace in friendly ways (Ferdik et al., 2022). Due to this, the police ensures that they engage in

the community activities, and merely listen to the residents, as well as partnering with the leaders

ensure that the interests of everyone within the community are regarded and not only that of a

certain group. Prior studies have indicated that long term working can take care of the issue and

increase trust between police and people from different cultural diversity.

Superior police officers should undergo training that would enable them distinguish own

prejudice when dealing with people of different colour, or black or from a poor background

(Farrow, 2022). Besides, more efforts and attention have to be made on the problem of ethnic

and racial diversity of police departments. It also reduces bias in law enforcement agencies

because people prefer to talk to those who they feel are similar to them, in terms of race or

ethnicity for instance.

Moreover, there is the need for the police to work under more transparency so as to ease any

tension. Chief-useful improvements that ensure the potential for police misconduct are to expand
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the usage of body-worn cameras and provide policing data to the public (Farrow, 2022). This is

because people can see that the police force is working without prejudice and favoritism thus

enhancing trust.

Finally, working with and supporting other organizations focused on social justice, education,

and mental health can tackle division correlates such as poverty and inequality (Farrow, 2022).

Thus, police can engage in wider crime reduction and enhancing the conditions that create

tension with these organizations. Because of its emphasis on unity and cooperation, and the

involvement of diverse members of society, police can build cohesive, safe societies.
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References

Farrow, K. (2022). Legitimacy and Confidence on Policing. In Cumberland Lodge Police

Conference, Berkshire. 17th–19th June.

Ferdik, F., Frogge, G., & Cooney, M. (2022). Exploring further determinants of citizen

satisfaction with the police: The role of strain. Journal of criminal justice, 81, 101931.

Gitlin, T. (2020). The rise of" identity politics": An examination and a critique. In Higher

education under fire (pp. 308-325). Routledge.

Losleben, K., & Musubika, S. (2023). Intersectionality. In Gender Diversity, Equity, and

Inclusion in Academia (pp. 72-84). Routledge.