Articles’ Critical Analysis

Paez, Rocio Alejandra, and Rick Dierenfeldt. “Community policing and youth offending: a comparison of large and small jurisdictions in the United States.” International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 25.1 (2020): 140-153.

In this article, Paez and Dierenfeldt relied on their study to determine whether there is an association between the practices of community policing and the arrest of young individuals based on their violent offenses. For the study to be successful, the authors focused on the data they obtained from the uniform crime report, census, administrative statistics data, and law enforcement management. The study was conducted after community-oriented strategies have been a critical emphasis on United States policing over the previous two decades (Paez and Dierenfeldt). This followed the fact that the supporters of the policing methods argue that a collaborative effort involving police, community members, and service providers may improve the well-being of young people in the community. From the study, the authors’ results suggest that the link between violent crime arrest numbers and community policing strategy implementation varies based on the scale of the jurisdiction and the age demographic studied (Paez and Dierenfeldt). These benefits are directly connected to criminal activity arrest rates among youths and in early adulthood in big jurisdictions, indicating that community policing is efficient in decreasing violence in metropolitan areas.

In the article, the authors also cover how the local authorities regularly follow community policing ideas without written confirmation of community policing tactics defined in LEMAS, as stated in the research assessment (Paez and Dierenfeldt). Likewise, the article also covers how local authorities retain deeper social links with residents in the area and are more receptive to community demands than large governments. According to the authors’ findings, the community policing influence in small jurisdictions may thus merely be an illusion of the high levels of collaboration, trust, and acquaintance existing between police and local people in non-urban areas.

Wright, James E., and Andrea M. Headley. “Can technology work for policing? Citizen perceptions of police-body worn cameras.” The American Review of Public Administration 51.1 (2021): 17-27.

Wright and Headley, in this article, highlight the perception of the body-won cameras technology adaptation among the citizens. This study was conducted in Washington, D.C. through an interview conducted among forty individuals who attended the ANC meeting held in police district 5. The authors were motivated to conduct the study given the incident between the locals and the police. In the incident, the people of color continued to strain the relationship between the community and the police services (Wright and Headley). The authors also state that practitioners, scholars, several police departments, policymakers, and activists have always advocated for the implementation and adoption of the technology of the body worn cameras that have been promoted to help solve the issue of growing mistrust in the United States. As a result, Wright and Headley looked at how the incorporation of technological improvements affects interactions between citizens and local administrations, specifically police agencies, from the perspective of police Body-worn cameras.

According to the research findings, citizens believe Body Won Cameras will enhance police behavior and improve police legitimacy. Still, cameras will not improve the trust of the community towards the police officers. Based on the findings, the authors also determined the constraints of Body-worn camera technologies through the study and evaluates viable collaborative ways for police agencies to embrace and deploy Body-worn cameras (Wright and Headley). Finally, Wright and Headley believe that this study is among the few to study citizens’ perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras. The perspectives and opinions of locals are essential to the achievement of Body-worn camera technology for policing. It’s critical that academics and practitioners work together to improve ways for studying Body-worn cameras adoption, use, and effectiveness inside the police force and in the community.

Koslicki, Wendy M., et al. “‘Rhetoric without reality’or effective policing strategy? An analysis of the relationship between community policing and police fatal force.” Journal of criminal justice 72.C (2021).

In this article, the authors highlight the study they conducted to examine the relationship between community policing and the rate of agencies of the fatal forces while using the 2013 LEMAS data and the crowdsourced fatal encounter database (Koslicki et al.,). The article poses a discussion on whether an agency’s dedication to community policing reduces the number of fatal police interactions. While the term “community policing” is vague, the overall notion is that the police force invests in the community and collaborates with them to benefit all parties (Koslicki et al.,). The article explains that community policing doesn’t seem to minimize cop-fatal incidents regarding the data analyzed. In the article, the authors also highlight that there was a range of other significant findings at the administrative level. And the study established that organizations with committed SWAT teams had extremely high rates of fatal experiences, either with or without anomalies excluded.

Furthermore, excluding the number of detectives deployed to permanent duties, this SWAT variable had higher likelihoods than other variables in all of the total sample models in which it was included. The study results supported the theory that such types of personnel are commonly deployed in situations that require a more intense reaction (Koslicki et al.,). Although the primary result of this study is that community policing program techniques do not prevent excessive officer force, it is noteworthy, and the study has some weaknesses that must be addressed. Some of them are that, while community policing has long been advised to reduce officer force and increase credibility and publicity, the present suggestions incorporate procedural fairness as part of the new concept of guardian-style policing.

Critical analysis:

The article, “Rhetoric without reality’ or effective policing strategy? An analysis of the relationship between community policing and fatal police force” by Koslicki et al., talks about community policing and how its strategies relate to the fatal forces that are witnessed from the police. The main area of focus in this article is how it analyzes these two concepts, especially answering whether fatal policing can be minimized with the dedication of the policing agencies at the community level. With the article’s central theme being community policing programs, the authors integrate all areas possible to bring out the message. Koslicki et al., research findings make an essential point to understand the impact that can be brought by the dedication of security agencies to community policing programs when it comes to reducing the cases of police aggressiveness. On the other hand, Wright and Headley, in their article “Can Technology Work for Policing? Citizen Perceptions of Police-Body Worn Cameras,” bring about the idea of technology and policing. The article tells a story of its kind concerning policing, given that technical issues have been on the rise in recent times. Wright and Headley try to bring to the public domain the point that people need to think about. The issue of technology in policing is essential, and conducting a study to determine how people perceive the technology of body-worn cameras being adapted in policing raise a fundamental question of how effective policing strategies or programs can be when the authorities implement and embrace this new developing technology. In the article, “Community policing and youth offending: a comparison of large and small jurisdictions in the United States,” Paez and Dierenfeldt talks about the issue of community policing and youth offenses. Given that this article is more academic, the research takes place in an educational environment where a study compares two variables, mainly between the community policing and arrest of the youths about their offenses. Based on the authors’ arguments, the research brings out a clear relationship on how the two relate concerning teenagers.

The three articles are educational and the information is well organized according to the standards of academic papers. For example, the documents have an abstract that briefs the readers about the articles. The abstract of the three journals informs the readers of what is discussed in the entire paper. Following the abstract is an introduction. This section introduces the readers to the main idea of what the author(s) research. Following an introduction is the literature review. In this section, the author(s) explores the available literature related to the topic of studies, giving a brief idea of what the study is expected of in the findings. For example, in their studies, Paez and Dierenfeldt looked at the community policing programs and social problems as a subtopic under their study literature review. After the literature review, the three journals discuss the methods they used to collect data and how they analyzed the data, including the area or target population where the study was conducted. For instance, in their study, research, Wright and Headley conducted a series of semi-structured interviews to gain insights into the citizens, especially on how they perceive Body Worn Camera. They conducted forty interviews on the individuals who attended the ANC meetings that were held in police district 5. Both the articles follow methodology with findings, discussion of the results, and conclusion. The articles are also referenced to allow the readers access to where the information has been obtained.

Works Cited

Koslicki, Wendy M., et al. “‘Rhetoric without reality’or effective policing strategy? An analysis of the relationship between community policing and police fatal force.” Journal of criminal justice 72.C (2021).

Paez, Rocio Alejandra, and Rick Dierenfeldt. “Community policing and youth offending: a comparison of large and small jurisdictions in the United States.” International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 25.1 (2020): 140-153.

Wright, James E., and Andrea M. Headley. “Can technology work for policing? Citizen perceptions of police-body worn cameras.” The American Review of Public Administration 51.1 (2021): 17-27.