Patrol services

            Patrol services are regarded as the strength of character for the police department. Patrol officers serve many functions which include preventing crime and disorder from occurring. They thus respond to calls for various crimes, controlling and maintaining traffic and majorly dealing with solving problems associated to crime and disorder.  Foot patrol is one of the strategies that are used so as to improve public safety through the society policing. This kind of patrol is one of the oldest forms of police patrol. They are tasked with the role of providing a visible presence in a given are so as to prevent crime and also to reassure the society of safety. They work hand in hand with the community so as to be able to identify the vulnerable parts of an area that has high risk of being involved in a crime. They are also tasked with the role of maintaining peace I social gatherings and in strikes. They also respond to calls and the requests of the public to help in solving some of the crimes being committed.

            Effective foot patrol deals with more than just walking around. However, it involves the integration of coordinated planning and programming process. This will ensure that communication resources that are technologically advanced are allocated to hem so as to enhance timely communication and thus efficiency. Adequate as well as workable and advanced communication equipments such as phones that operate 24 hours and a well organized call centre at the police station will be needed so as to ensure that the right information is passed on to the officers while at the field patrolling hence enabling them to have a smooth progressive investigation (Madsen 2010).

            While undertaking a direct patrol or problem policing, there are measures that the officers should adhere to so as to be able to succeed in the foot patrol. The officers should shift their standpoint from being event driven into predicament driven as well as from imprudent into practical based. Scanning is one of the parameters that the officers should use in identifying the issue. They should later carry out an analysis where they learn the cause, extent and impacts of the problem and they should respond with the urgency of the problem so as to alleviate the predicament. Finally the officers should carry out an assessment so as to determine the performance of the response. In order to make the patrol a success and effective it is important to carry out an aggressive patrol as the officer targets on a specific crime so as to maintain the focus and to make more arrests (Madsen 2010).

            Patrol officers are expected to use all the power mandated to them by the constitution in ensuring that they counter all the threats and harm that face the citizens. Thus they are expected to prioritize the safety of all the citizens and the improvement of their lives. They therefore has a greater role of ensuring that all the perpetrators of crime are arrested and to make sure that justice is served for the law breakers.

            It is therefore important to understand that foot patrol is quite essential as it can help to prevent a crime despite the size of the area. This mechanism enhances the officer to understand some of the hidden patterns and characteristics of a given area and be able to anticipate a problem before it occurs and unable to control.

 

 

 

 

References

Madsen, S. (2010). Practical Skills for Police Community Support Officers. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd.