Before the attacks on the United States, on September 11, 2001, Community Oriented Policing, or C.O.P., was common practice among local law enforcement agencies. When our country was attacked, and brought to our knees, changes affected not only national level agencies, but local law enforcement agencies as well. It became clear local level agencies would now have more responsibility in protecting their communities from a new kind of threat. Individuals who did not fit the mold of a typical American became the target of discrimination and the practice of profiling under the guise of protecting our homeland. C.O. P. strategies changed in many ways, where individuals fitting the profile of a terrorist were concerned. (Jones, 2010).
Law enforcement agencies have taken on the role of intelligence gathering in cooperation with federal agencies. These agencies include the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department Of Justice. (Schmalleger, 2008). It is important for law enforcement to keep an open dialog with the communities they serve in order to have the trust needed for citizens to come forward with information they may have where criminal activities are concerned, no matter the ethnicity. Many times there is a language barrier that needs to be broken, so agencies need to have the resources for communication with individuals who do not speak English. Having such a resource accessible can elicit trust from the individual by showing there is a respect for their heritage, and they are permitted to communicate and be understood.
Law enforcement has also been granted more power under the Patriot Act of 2001, which was passed by Congress right after the 9/11 attacks. The Patriot Act is “An act to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools and for other purposes.” (Patriot Act 2001). One section in the Patriot Act specifies “Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia play a vital role in our nation, and are entitled to nothing less than the full rights of every American. (HR 3162, Section 102). This section of the Patriot Act also guarantees multicultural individuals that any retaliation perpetrated against them in response to the 9/11 attacks would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. This was included in the Patriot Act to assure some security to those Americans fearful that their safety was at issue because of the acts performed by others.
Though the backlash against Americans of other nationalities has subsided in the years that followed 9/11, there is still distrust among individuals and law enforcement. There have been instances where the badge has been tainted by an officer, and there is little respect many times where law enforcement is concerned. Even with community policing strategies, and the attempts to get individuals more involved with their own protection, especially after 9/11, the disrespect is prevalent when law enforcement officers are losing their lives once every 53 hours on average, with 2011 expected to surpass that average. (CNN, 2010). Community policing needs to be revamped in a way to get the general public to regain the respect for those who wear the badge, and trust them enough to police themselves and their neighbors, and be willing to come forward, and prevent the violence that occurs, whether it be foreign terror attacks, or home grown attacks, including the deliberate attacks on those who have been sworn to protect. One way to increase this is to have an open agency, and show the local community firsthand what goes on behind closed doors. If the community knows what happens within the agency, the level of respect can increase, and allow them to be less leery about coming forward with criminal activity information.
I do not believe there is one right answer to bridge the gap between society and law enforcement. When there is not the sense of respect taught to children at a young age, they are growing up not caring about their neighbors and society in general. It is sad when it takes an event like the World Trade Center, and thousands of Americans losing their lives to bring a nation together. After the attacks, this country was united in a way it had never been before, and sadly it has not been as united since. Unfortunately, the pain of a nation has eased over the years, and we have forgotten what it was like to be attacked in such a way as we were. The love of a country for not only law enforcement but firefighters, and all first responders, and even for every neighbor on that day, and the days that followed, showed what a true American can be. We have lost that along the way, and until there is a way to get it back, the backlash among police officers will continue no matter what community policing services are enacted on local communities.
References
Jones, C., & Supinski, S. B. (2010). Impact on community relations. In Policing and Community Relations in the Homeland Security Era. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/45047029/Policing-in-the-Homeland-Security-Era-pdf
Said, S. (n.d.). Line-of-duty deaths among police officers go up. Retrieved July 26, 2011, from CNN website: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-29/justice/us.law.enforcement.deaths_1_police-officers-line-of-duty-law-enforcement?_s=PM:CRIME
Schmalleger, F. (2008). Criminal justice: A brief introduction (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: : Prentice Hall.
USA Patriot Act Act of 2001, 1 U.S.C. § 1 (2001), http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-107hr3162rds/pdf/BILLS-107hr3162rds.pdf.
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