Assignment task:
What If . . . ?
You are an elected official on the city council for a large city. You have one of the largest districts in your area and, unfortunately, one of the highest crime rates. You have been worried about this increase in crime for quite some time now, and recently other community leaders have started to take notice. Last week, the final straw was that a playground full of children had to witness a deadly gang-related drive-by shooting. The children are scared for their safety, the parents are now concerned, and your office phone won't stop ringing.
- What areas of the city government do you get involved to handle this problem? Why?
- How might you approach the chief of police in discussing community involvement for her officers?
- What programs might you pitch to the chief of police, and what would be the goal of the programs?
- How might you get other districts involved to help with crime reduction and prevention efforts?
- What resources would you tell the community needed to be provided to the police department to help make the crime reduction efforts worthwhile?
- What benefits of community policing and the various programs that come along with it would you pitch to your constituents to sell them on the idea of implementing some of the new community policing and crime prevention programs?