Discuss the History of Police Community Relation Programs in the United States

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Over the year there has been disagreement over the exact meaning of community relations programs. Hence this may explain why there are differences as to what police activities fall under the category of community relations. However, it is generally accepted that the concept of police community relations was first associated with the St. Louis, Missouri Police Department in 1957 . The text notes that the motivating factor for police departments in establishing police community relations programs was the violent confrontations between police and citizens during the mid-1960s. It was believed that there was a need to improve the image of the police in terms of their view as perceived by many citizens in this country. Hence, over the years the number of community police programs increased noticeably as well as the kinds of activities performed by the police under this particular type of police performance. This phenomenon reflects the fact that there are differences among police departments as to the exact duties to be performed by police community relations programs. However, it should be noted that police departments do agree that it is advantageous to have the support of the public and that community relations programs can help increase the amount of support.