Dearborn 

Perspectives 

on 

Community Policing and Public Safety

The Meaning of Community

People of diverse interests and goals living in a geographical area.

A group of individuals whose lives are interconnected. The community is both the

individuals that make it up, and the unique collective whole that emerges as these

individuals come together. We are each part of multiple communities -- some by chance and some by choice -- and each community we are part of informs our perspectives and interactions with the others. Communities can exist within a physical or virtual space, or in a hybrid between the two.

People of a shared interest. It can mean support, togetherness, similarity, and common purpose.

The Meaning of Policing

Enforcement, control, or regulation of laws/codes/ordinances governing a community

Policing is the structures which coerce obedience through the threat of violence. 

The act of creating chaos, harming others, and leading efforts of misconduct

Control by force, harm, and fear … being above the law

Community Policing

People working in collaboration with their local government law enforcement agencies to improve communication and understand how to enforce laws in a thoughtful and meaningful way.

Community policing inserts police officers into communities with the intention of

improving the community’s perception of the officer.

CP campaigns assume that policing is unwelcomed by communities because the

community is insufficiently connected to individual officers. This addresses the wrong problem -- communities are not ignorant of the role of officers, communities are quite aware of the role of officers and resist policing because policing is inherently destructive.

CP campaigns attempt to reduce officers’ abuses of power through manufacturing

artificial connections between officers and communities. This is an insulting prospect -- communities and community members should not be required to make themselves known to officers in order to be treated with dignity.

An idea being forced on American communities

Disguising the elements of force, harm, and fear as neighborliness.

Community policing is dangerous because it requires a neighborhood community to

believe that brutality is justified when a person does not appear to fit into their

community.

Community policing does not correct issues of police bias, harassment, and violence

because it normalizes those actions in our community.

Learn more about these community contributor groups visit their website below

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