Community Policing: To Serve, Protect, and Solve Problems, Part II

In the early 1990’s when I was a rookie officer in the now-defunct New York City Housing Police Department, I was often called to apartments for seemingly ordinary events such as water leaks. While this may not be considered a police matter, upon investigation, it is often discovered that the circumstances surrounding the water leak may require emergency personnel to respond. On numerous occasions, I discovered a person who had fallen in the bathtub and was unable to shut down the water and call for help. Other times, a person preparing dinner or washing dishes would succumb to an in-home mishap, or suffer a heart attack, and the faucet would overflow the sink. Only when the residents below noticed water dripping through their ceiling would the police be called, and the tragic discovery made in the apartment above. Or, overflowing water from an apartment where the residents were not at home would flood the apartment below. The police would be the responding agency to assure that there were no victims associated with the flooding other than property.

Because housing police patrol residential complexes, it is the duty of the officers to become familiar with the residents in the developments they are assigned to. As a rookie, I recall a senior officer making the observation that over the course of time, an active officer will notice that he is arresting the same ten to fifteen individuals over and over again in each neighborhood. The officer further stated that it behooves a cop new to an area to work all three tours of duty over a period of weeks and observe the comings and goings of the citizens on their beat. Beginning around 5:00 a.m. during the midnight tour, you will see people going to work on public transportation. A bit later, parents will escort their children to school bus stops. In the afternoons, starting at 3:00 p.m. or so, those same folks will begin to come home. By 9:00 p.m. on a warm, summer night, the working folks will start to go inside for the evening; the younger kids will go in later. His point to me was that in between the typical schedules of working adults and school aged children, the ten to fifteen repeat offenders will be on the street corners, in the playgrounds, or other common areas while everyone else is at work or school. In addition, there are unwanted visitors in public housing developments who buy drugs, commit robberies, burglaries, or worse. Officers who familiarize themselves with the routines of the residents they serve will spot those who do not live there and investigate their presence accordingly.

An observant and active officer will begin his tour by visiting all of the facilities located on his beat. Most of the public housing developments have health facilities, maintenance shops, community centers, pre-schools, and other social centers on the grounds. By speaking to those who operate the programs and the residents who patronize the facilities, and officer builds trust and keeps lines of communication open with them. Officers perform vertical patrols of the buildings and search the stairwells, roof landings, and roof tops for trespassers and others who may be engaged in law-breaking. Many buildings have active tenant patrols. These are residents who maintain a post in the lobby of their building, working in conjunction with the Housing Authority and in cooperation with the police, and screen visitors entering the building by signing them in and asking for identification. Patrol officers visit tenant patrols and sign their attendance records and inquire about any nuisances or occurrences. It is also important to attend regular community meetings to listen to and respond to the complaints of the residents and provide information on how various issues will be addressed by the police.

A Housing police officer will utilize field reports to alert maintenance about damaged locks on doors, shattered windows, broken lights, or poorly lit areas, downed fences and gates, and any other condition which leads to a lack of security. In addition, excessive graffiti, illegally dumped trash, uncollected garbage, and shattered windows lead outsiders to believe that there is a lack of oversight or weak law enforcement in the area and the building and grounds then become an attractive location for drug use or sales, robberies, burglaries, or large groups loitering in lobbies or obstructing pedestrian traffic. By maintaining close relationships with maintenance crews or other city agencies, community police officers can concentrate resources on these problematic concerns and improve the overall quality of life for the residents and reduce criminal activity.

End of Part II 

About the Author: Michael J. Kannengieser is the author of the police thriller, The Daddy Rock. He is a retired New York City police officer who lives on Long Island with his wife and two children. Michael worked as the Managing Editor for Fiction at The View from Here magazine, a U.K. based literary publication. Currently, he is employed at a performing arts college as an Instructional Technology Administrator. He has been published at The View from Here, and in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper. Michael is a contributor to Criminal Justice News. Click Here to buy a copy of Michael J. Kannengieser's new novel "The Daddy Rock."

Community Policing: To Serve, Protect, and Solve Problems, Part III

Working with the community also means utilizing discretion and taking reasonable actions when dealing with the public. Officers who are familiar with the residents of the development where they work may be more inclined to return juveniles to their parents if they are engaged in minor, nuisance activity, such as breaking housing authority rules against riding bicycles on the grass, staying in the park after the posted closing hours, or other minor infractions. Parents appreciate the discretion the officer exercises, and the rewards of appealing to the resident’s sense of empowerment in maintaining order and control in their living environment becomes tangible. A parent’s reprimand may do the child offender more justice than a juvenile report filed at the precinct. Residents who return home from work on a hot, summer evening and sit outside with an open container of beer may be better served with a request to conceal the container or to drink indoors rather than face a fine. An officer knows that any action he takes can escalate to an arrest in spite of his best intentions, but an experienced community police officer applies his discretion based on his knowledge and experience with the people her serves.

Officers operating under the community police model will investigate criminal activity to a wider extent than officers on routine patrol. If there is a suspected gambling location on his beat, drug sales, or other persistent illegal enterprises, the officer may call upon other specialized units at the precinct level or within the department after performing observations and preparing reports. In addition, the officer may be the source of intelligence for outside agencies who wish to execute a warrant or arrest a suspect. On different occasions, my partners and I reported our findings to the Organized Crime Control Bureau, detective units, and other narcotics units. Also, I provided detailed information to Postal Inspectors given to me by a member of the community who trusted me because of my history of fairness and effective policing in his community. Special Agents of the Secret Service visited out Police Service Area satellite to consult with us concerning a suspect who threatened former President Bill Clinton’s life. Because the officers I worked with and I knew the suspect and where he lived, he was arrested without incident by the Secret Service, and with Housing Police present at the scene. On numerous occasions, when responding to nine-one-one initiated calls for police assistance, we would knock on a resident’s door, and when the occupant asked who is was, we’d answer “It’s the police.” The follow-up question was almost always, “Are you Housing?” Then, we would respond with a reassuring, “Yes.”

The methods of community policing employed by the former, New York City Police Department, briefly outlined here are still utilized by the NYPD’s Housing Bureau created in 1995 after the merger of the Housing Police into the NYPD. While relationships between the police and the community can often times be strained or contentious, community policing, as exemplified by the NYPD’s Housing Bureau and the other housing police departments in cities across the nation, remains an effective and enduring model of policing.  

End of Series

About the Author: Michael J. Kannengieser is the author of the police thriller, The Daddy Rock. He is a retired New York City police officer who lives on Long Island with his wife and two children. Michael worked as the Managing Editor for Fiction at The View from Here magazine, a U.K. based literary publication. Currently, he is employed at a performing arts college as an Instructional Technology Administrator. He has been published at The View from Here, and in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper. Michael is a contributor to Criminal Justice News. Click Here to buy a copy of Michael J. Kannengieser's new novel "The Daddy Rock."

Community Policing: To Serve, Protect, and Solve Problems, Part I

When the public hears the term “community policing,” they envision a cop on the beat who knows the local shop owners and is familiar with the residents in town. The beat cop sees and hears everything, knows the routine of the townspeople, and exercises discretion for minor offenses. When police departments deploy community policing strategies, they see the same things as the public does, but their intentions go deeper. Their focus is on developing relationships with civic leaders to gain a better understanding of the needs of the public, identifying crime trends, and preventing law-breaking. Although various departments define community policing in different ways, the concept is not new, and certain agencies – in particular housing authority police departments – are models of community policing. In order to appreciate the difference between standard police model and community policing, it is important to define both and to illustrate the differences.

The standard police model (The Disparity Between Traditional and Community Policing) is a regimented and relatively anonymous, uniformed force which responds to nine-one-one initiated calls for police assistance and focuses on both preventing crime, solving past crimes, and “order maintenance,” also referred to as “keeping the peace.” Officers patrol in marked cars or on foot and concentrate on arresting offenders and upholding the law. Contact with the public is consistent with the motto: “To Protect and Serve,” (The Peelian Principles), and is typically the result of a “reactive policing” philosophy. Officers have little leeway, and the mandate for the department to enforce the law comes from the “coercive power of the law” to gain control.

Community policing is a different concept which has other names (Community-Orientated Policing, Problem Orientated Policing), and has slightly varying definitions, but boils down to the police department serving the community by getting more deeply involved in their problems and involving outside agencies. An officer is given wide-discretion to implement strategies and ideas, while working with businesses, community organizations, and individuals to address crime and quality of life issues. By engaging and interacting with shop owners, housing associations, and youth groups, police learn the specific problems related to a neighborhood and are able to call upon municipal, charitable, or police resources to address the community’s concerns. In addition, citizens feel empowered to report issues to police due to the buildup of trust through regular contact and communication.

The concept of community policing can best be demonstrated by the practices of housing authority police departments throughout the country. Directly serving the residents of public housing, police officers interact daily with tenant groups, community organizers, and individual residents. Officers are able to access the resources of the housing authority for assistance with issues ranging from criminal activity, to noise, to out-of-service elevators. In many areas, the police act as front-line representatives of government. The resourcefulness of street officers, combined with a service-orientated department focusing on community needs, fills the void where other city agencies may be lacking. Community policing is not limited to housing police agencies, but the model is best illustrated by agencies serving public housing due the physical and organizational structure of each public housing development. Individually, they are their own communities with their own unique problems, and housing police units employing community policing methods are best able to provide security for these locations.

End of Part I

About the Author: Michael J. Kannengieser is the author of the police thriller, The Daddy Rock. He is a retired New York City police officer who lives on Long Island with his wife and two children. Michael worked as the Managing Editor for Fiction at The View from Here magazine, a U.K. based literary publication. Currently, he is employed at a performing arts college as an Instructional Technology Administrator. He has been published at The View from Here, and in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper. Michael is a contributor to Criminal Justice News. Click Here to buy a copy of Michael J. Kannengieser's new novel "The Daddy Rock."

The February 22, 2013, episode of American Heroes Radio features a conversation between Michael J. Kannengieser, a retired NYPD police officer and the host, Raymond E. Foster, a retired LAPD Lieutenant, on the similarities and differences between NYPD and LAPD on community policing.

Program Date: February 22, 2013

Program Time: 1500 hours, PACIFIC

Topic: LAPD to NYPD: Community Policing

RSVP Via Facebook Event:  http://www.facebook.com/events/201293246678287

TARGETING OMAHA GUN CRIME

ATF, Omaha Police Department Ad Campaign Encourages Citizens to Report Firearm-Related Crimes

Omaha, Neb. – The Omaha Police Department (OPD) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recently launched an ad campaign in Omaha to encourage the public to report gun crimes.

Billboards in Omaha and Metro Bus signs carry the messages, “Report Gun Crimes” and “1 Firearm + 1 Arrest = $500”, with the Crime Stoppers hotline number 402-444-STOP and website www.omahacrimestoppers.net. The billboards are located near the intersections of N. 38th St. and Ames Ave., N. 58th St. and NW Radial Hwy., N. 30th St. and Myrtle Ave., and S. 26th Ave. and Q St.

The callers can remain completely anonymous and the tips will be investigated by Omaha Police Department Firearms Squad. The goal of the campaign is to increase citizen involvement in making Omaha safer and remind the public that they can report gun crimes anonymously.

ATF ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN ASKS FOR THE PUBLIC’S ASSISTANCE

DETROIT – Special Agent in Charge David L. McCain of the Detroit Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced the initiation of an advertising campaign in Flint, Mich. in an attempt to encourage the public to report violent firearm related crimes.

The message “HELP US HELP YOU! - Report Gun Violence” will be displayed on several poster boards and buses that run throughout the Flint beginning this week. The campaign will also provide the public with the ATF hotline number 1-800-ATF-GUNS that can be called 24/7. Information that leads to a successful prosecution may provide a reward of up to $10,000.

The goal of the advertising campaign is to increase public awareness and involvement in the security of their communities. ATF wants the public to know information is needed and encouraged. Tips may be reported anonymously.

The ATF campaign will run via CBS Outdoor locations in neighborhood areas and on the Flint bus service lines.

For more information on ATF and its programs go to www.atf.gov

Boy Scouts Help Denver Division Celebrate Flag Day

The FBI Denver Division celebrated Flag Day on Thursday, June 14, 2012. In honor of the anniversary of the adoption of the American Flag as our national symbol, 11 local Denver Boy Scouts from Troop 358 led the annual commemorative flag raising ceremony. Once the American flag was posted, both the Colorado state and FBI flags were raised as well. Following the morning ceremony, Special Agent in Charge James Yacone challenged the Scouts and FBI employees to a round of Flag Day trivia.

Local Citizens Graduate From First CBP Citizens Academy in Detroit

Detroit- On May 31, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the Port of Detroit graduated its first ever Citizens Academy. The Citizens Academy’s first session was April 12, and met every Thursday for eight weeks.

Community leaders from the Detroit Immigration Lawyers Association, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, Detroit Police Department, CBP Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) and alumni from the FBI Citizens Academy participated in this endeavor.

Class members were given an overview of CBP history, the mission of the Office of Field Operations (OFO), participated in tours of port operations, which included demonstrations of various technologies used by CBP officers and agriculture specialists. The class received instruction on defensive tactics, participated in firearms training and drug interdiction techniques.

“For eight weeks, we developed a better understanding in forging ties with members of our community,” says Christopher Perry, Detroit director of field operations. “We appreciate the chance to engage the community and show them what it takes to secure our borders.”

If you are interested in attending a future CBP Citizens Academy and are able to commit to attending associated sessions, please contact Chief Ken Hammond, Public Affairs Liaison, Detroit Field Office at (313) 496-2191 or by email at detroitcitizensacademy@cbp.dhs.gov

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Journey Through Indian Country, part 2

Part 2: Making an Impact on the Reservation

Snow swirled in New Mexico’s high plains as Special Agent Mac McCaskill slowed his vehicle at the bottom of a hill on the Tohajiilee Reservation. He engaged the four-wheel drive before continuing slowly up the steep, bumpy track on his way to deliver a subpoena in a violent assault case.

McCaskill had driven an hour from Albuquerque on this 20-degree morning—typical of the distances that often separate agents from their cases in Indian Country—and now he was knocking on the door of a small wooden structure with one boarded-up window. On the hillside just beyond the dwelling sat a rusted trailer and an outhouse. A young woman holding an infant opened the door and told McCaskill the man he was looking for would be back later.

“On the reservation you can’t just call someone because many people don’t have a phone,” McCaskill said, explaining the challenges of investigating crimes in Indian Country. “Sometimes the best way to get anything done is to knock on doors.”

In the process of knocking on doors and talking to people, McCaskill and other agents working in Indian Country become not just law enforcement officers but advocates for justice and sometimes even role models. (See sidebar.)

A New Mexico native, McCaskill said his eyes were “wide open” when he took an assignment in Indian Country. “Still, it’s difficult to comprehend the conditions on the reservations and the kinds of crime we see here,” he explained. “People are living in really difficult circumstances.”

In Tohajiilee, a satellite reservation that is part of the Navajo Nation, many homes lack electricity and running water, and social ills such as alcoholism are rampant. These issues, along with the fact that there are only a handful of tribal police officers assigned to patrol a sprawling area of more than 120 square miles, contribute to a serious crime problem.

“There are terrible crimes that happen on the reservations that go virtually unnoticed by the world outside,” McCaskill said. “If they happened anywhere else, in Denver or in Dallas, it would be front-page news for a week.”

As a result, he said, “we are serving a community that isn’t used to getting much service.” Perhaps it’s not surprising then that women beaten by boyfriends or spouses, or children sexually assaulted by family members may believe a call to authorities will do little to help them.

McCaskill works hard to change that perception. He patiently explained to the young mother the importance of serving the subpoena—so that the witness will testify, which could help make sure the violent offender stays in jail and no longer poses a threat to the community.

“Our caseloads may be 75 percent sexual assaults against children,” McCaskill said later. “People ask me if it’s difficult emotionally to work these cases, and my answer is always, ‘How can you not work them?’ These are cases where on a very fundamental level you are able to make a difference in a victim’s life by taking an abuser out of the family. When I help a victim and get to know the family,” he added, “I may be one of the few positive influences that they’ve ever seen from outside the reservation.”

Stopping that cycle of violence on the reservation is “extremely rewarding,” McCaskill said. “We are helping people here.”

Teachers and Mentors

Paul Brusuelas, a tribal prosecutor for the Mescalero Apache Tribe in southern New Mexico, remembers when he was growing up on the reservation and very few young people had respect for law enforcement.

Today, things are different. “FBI agents, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and investigators from the Bureau of Indian Affairs actually go into the schools and talk to the kids,” he said. “They talk to young adults and young parents and try to persuade them to go in the right direction.”

“I would say 98 percent of our crime here is fueled by alcohol,” Brusuelas said.

“The agents and officers give a lot of education to the youth on alcohol, drugs, and gang activity—just a lot of positive influence. The kids all know the officers by their names now. Going down the road you’ll see the little kids waving their hands at the officers.”

“The FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Mescalero tribal officers and prosecutors work extremely well together,” he added. “We all keep in contact on a daily basis, and we all communicate well. Without the presence of the federal agencies here,” he said, “I think Mescalero would be in a world of hurt.

Next: Murder on the Zuni reservation.