Community policing in Canada vs. Australia

COMMUNITY POLICING IN CANADA vs. AUSTRALIA
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(08 November 2012
Community Policing
Community policing is defined as a policing approach that promotes independence and responsibility sharing between the police and the community with the aim of promoting safe and conducive environment for every individual. Through community policing, it is possible to establish a very resourceful relationship between the police and the general public that can help in dealing with criminology in the community. This is possible because the community and the police will be discussing crime and safety issues together, hence a joint solution will be determined and implemented by all involved parties.
There are three concepts of community policing, such concepts include community partnership, support systems, and problem solving. Community partnership refers to collaboration among law enforcing agencies, organizations and individuals in developing solutions to various problems they encounter in their day-to-day life, apart from increasing trust between the public and police. Organizations involved in community partnership include "Other Government Agencies other than police, Community Members or Groups, Nonprofits/Service Providers, Private Businesses, Media" (Anderson 2000).
Community partnership needs support systems to ensure effective problem solving processes. This is very important in aligning organizational management, organizations` structures, personnel and information systems.
People dealing with community-based policing problems face the problems in making quick fix solutions. However ensuring effective long lasting solutions, it is important to determine the source of the problem, and the factors causing the problem. To achieve this, problem solving process involving active and systematic examination of the problem is necessary, and this is the basis of SARA Model. According to Eck and Spelman (1987), SARA stands for:
Scanning: this involves identification and prioritization of the problem.
Analysis: this is carrying out the research to determine the source, and underlying factors causing the problem, and the effects of the problem.
Response: this is the development of long lasting solutions to either reduce the effects of the problem, or alleviate the problem itself.
Assessment: this entails evaluating the response strategy to determine its successes or failures.
Canadian policing in the past
In Canada, before the emergency of community policing, police force was viewed as being an oppressive unit. This is because people were being brutally treated, hence the public viewed the police as being promoters of discrimination and unjust. This continued till when Halton Region Police service was formed.
Halton Regional Police service was the first community policing agency in police department in 1975. The agency carried out its responsibilities in Halton municipality which had a po...