Michael Atherton wrote:
> I think that people who are opposed to CODEFOR need to think about
> what constitutes effective policing.
I think that people who support CODEFOR need to think about what
constitutes effective policing. If an murder occurs in my
neighborhood, I want the police to put forth effort into capturing the
murderer. I do not want the murder to become a justification for
increased traffic stops. If increased traffic stops results in less
murders, then increasing traffic stops after and because of a murder
is putting the cart before the horse. By the the time the murder has
occurred, it is already too late for an increased number of traffic
stops to prevent that murder.
The type of policing programs I am interested in seeing used and which
I do see used through the SAFE officers is when the police and their
representatives meet and work with the community to identify potential
trouble spots. Most people know if the house next door is a drug
house. Once a potential drug house is identified, then the police can
begin efforts to shutdown the drug house and arrest the dealers.
Meeting with the community like this means acting before or while the
problem is occuring. CODEFOR can only react after the fact. Only after
a crime occurs does it become data for the CODEFOR program. By that
time, it is too late, the crime has occurred.
Another example of effective policing is that a neighbor of mine
frequently drives while under the influence of alcohol, often to the
point that this person has difficulty controlling his vehicle. His
behavior is obviously endangering his life, the lives of those in the
community and the lives of his family. Through our SAFE officer,
others have attempted to have this person helped. Various legal
avenues are being pursued to prevent his driving while under the
influence. The goal is to stop him before he kills or injures himself
or someone else. To arrest him after he has done so is too late.
Effective policing occurs by identifying problems before they become
serious. Arrests after the fact means the problem is too serious and
the response too late.
Scott McGerik
Hawthorne
Minneapolis
http://www.visi.com/~scottlm/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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