Frdous Yagoub

Professor. Said

Writing as Inquiry

October 28, 2021

Creative Solution: Mistrust Due to Miscommunication in Policing

Police officer job is very fulfilling and rewarding, it involves accomplishing so many duties

from patrolling, answering dangerous calls to filling out very long detailed paperwork. On top of

that they face so many issues due to the lack of trust between the public and them. I have

mentioned that this lack of trust and transparency have caused a huge division between the

groups which continues to impact the way in which they confront each other during certain

situations and encounters. This paper is going to analyze the root causes of the issue and

investigate different ways to bring effective solutions that can help improve or better the overall

interaction between the law enforcement and the public. Some sources of the problem are that

the police stop citizens without any legal justification or suspicion. Lack of resources and

expertise, and the friction of local politics makes it hard to reform police departments. The police

must learn different ways of making communities safer while respecting individual's

constitutional rights, approach individuals and a respectful manner and positive energy, and

focus more on community-oriented policing and problem-oriented policing.

As I mentioned in my problem analyzing paper it is very critical for the police to be able to

get information from members of the community regarding a potential suspect, a crime, or

anything that might increase the rate of crime in certain areas, and act upon the information they

receive. In order to solve the main problem, one of the things the police can do is improve their
broken relationship with the community through different partnership programs with the

community. This can open so many doors of opportunity for both the police and the community

by getting involved in activities such as giving out and providing essential services and items for

families and children that are part of the low-income community. Also, going out communities

and reaching out to young adults and teenagers and offering them different opportunities such as

internships, jobs, or shadowing to expose to the real environment of police work and what they

undergo in daily basis can help draw a new understanding and perception of the police. Once

these kids are back to their community, they can educate their surroundings about what they have

experienced, the words coming out from them can make a huge impact on the relationship

between the law enforcement or policing to be specific and the public.

The police relationship between youth and young adults is very important because

whatever the police do during those interactions will generate a lot of attention whether it is

positive or negative. Having a cop as a mentor for young kids is way that can solve the problems

and tension that has developed in recent years, because people will see the positive impact that

the police is having in those kids lives for example, the organization “Strategies for Youth,

connecting cops & kids” said “In communities where Strategies for Youth has worked, we’ve

seen that developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed, and racially equitable training for youth

and law enforcement officers and agencies can lead to up to a 84% decline in juvenile arrests.”

(Wilson, 2018) This shows that policing doesn’t only protect and serve people when it comes to

crime but also goes beyond is way to prevent problems from developing among youth in earlier

stages of their lives and ensuring they have someone help them become successful members of

society or at least an individual that guides them toward the right path.
 Moreover, police officers can speak to residents in certain area about the environment they

live in, what they wish to change, or problems that causes disorder in their communities that they

say often, as well advertising that idea that whatever they might share with the police will stay

private and their lives won’t be put at risk, this can happen if while the police are out of the field

in neighborhoods provide certain people with their phone numbers or business lines, telling them

that if they ever need anything or need to tip about any information anonymously they can reach

to the officer that they have spoken with, this can definitely go a long way in rebuilding the trust

between police officers and the public. Therefore, “Cities should assess community needs and

allocate resources to the public safety ecosystem in proportion to the elements that are most

effective in addressing particular needs.” (Jesus, 2021) This is important because it shows that

allocating resources and talking to community is method that the police thing is essential when it

comes to addressing certain problems with the public.

Building a positive relationship with the community is an important factor in enhancing

trust toward the police and law enforcement in general. Research found that “a single, positive

nonenforcement interaction with a police officer improved residents’ attitudes toward police,

including perceived legitimacy and willingness to cooperate.” (Cummings, 2019) This shows

that the police’s efforts in getting close to community members and showing that they care about

them does make an impact. For example, going to door to door knocking every now and then to

speak with them and check on their well-being and knowing that everything in their community

is safe and secure, and absolutely change the attitude toward the police because they are going

out of their ways to make connections and build relationship with people, and in return people

will be more willing to cooperate with the police and become a part of solving a case or problem

if a situation have occurred.

 Another reason to why the public and the police have a huge gap that is yet to be overcome

is due to past conflicts, and violent encounters and experiences that a certain group of people

have dealt with. This has resulted in numerous amounts of people viewing the police as the bad

guy with the assistance of social media platforms and news outlets, the issue only continues to

rise. Some possible solutions to these conflicts would be if a police officer was involved in an act

of misconduct for them to be fired if the investigation showed that they we were truly out of

control. another potential solution would be to give them time in jail if they prove be to be guilty,

they shouldn't not be given any special treatments by the department because they have served

for a long time, but rather be treated like any other civilian who undergoes the justice system

when committing a crime or any type of deviant activities, or placing officers in programs that

work with them in dealing with their uncontrollable anger issues that might of being cause by

stress in the work force or the home environment. This is a considerable view of the best

solutions to working with the issues and improving the conditions. This is very effective and

reasonable because it will show people that the police's main job is to do the right thing for

people and by all means make sure that they are protected, while being treated with respect in the

process.

In many cases where the police have endangered residents under dangerous conditions or

failed to identify the difference between a potential perpetrator and normal civilian. Basically, in

cases where the police have failed to control crime in the safest way possible. There was no

punishment given to the cop who was involved in the situation, this happens multiple times.

Many people who grew up in minority and low-income communities can speak on officers'

misconduct toward certain people and have not lost their badge or got jail time. I spoke to

Chadrick Jackson, and he said, “I live in Desoto, Texas there is always raising issues in the city
and is very hard for us to live in a place where I know that we all get separate treatment and even

when it comes to justice, we witness a lot of police get away with mistreatment of people.”

Chadrick perspective shows that for police officers to not face justice the same causes a problem,

and one of the solutions to that is for the police to get jail time or go through programs that helps

them with how they act as professionals or lose their badge.

To sum it up, the best solution for the issue of mistrust and lack of transparency is

community-oriented policing and problem solving “the community policing philosophy is the

hope for a better.” (Roberts, 2019) There are so many solutions that can go a long way towards

building a community in which the police and the public trust one another and communicate

better. Therefore, it’s. Very prominent to have diverse police officers that knows how to use

intelligence instead of profiling, implementing extensive training, toughen the rules on body

cams and use of force, more community engagement, less bias and profiling, pass new reforms

and policing the police. The police being willing to go out to the communities and build positive

interactions, it’s a very important step in healing and lessen the tension and rebuilding the

obvious signs of broken relationship between the police and the community that have being

present for decades now.

Work Cited

Cummings, M. (2019, September 16). Study finds community-oriented policing improves

attitudes toward police. YaleNews. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from

 https://news.yale.edu/2019/09/16/study-finds-community-oriented-policing-improves-

attitudes-toward-police.

Jesus, P. (2021, March 9). Redefining the role of local police and public safety. United States

Conference of Mayors. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from

https://www.usmayors.org/issues/police-reform/redefining-the-role-of-local-police-and-

public-safety/.

Roberts, W. (2019, November 6). Home | Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved October 28,

2021, from https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/144727NCJRS.pdf.

Wilson, S. (2018, August 23). Home. SFY_lgo_wht_200px. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from

https://strategiesforyouth.org/.

Yagoub, Frdous. “Perspective on Policing Treatment to Certain Groups” Interview, 22 Oct. 2021

1. I feel good about the process it took me to connect my problem draft and connecting it

with my solution draft.

2. I’m not totally sure on how much of my primary source I'm supposed to quote

3. I have no question
4. I think she will say this draft is dec

ent