The advent of Homeland security in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack brought about new structures and approach to the management of public safety. This new structure sidelined and overshadowed the importance previously given to community policing (Friedman et al, 2007). Homeland security was viewed as a substitute to the previously existing community policing structures as it was completely favored in terms of budget and priority. More attention, resources and man power have been directed to efforts of improving and making homeland security more effective in ensuring public safety and preventing terrorism attacks. The overemphasis on homeland security and its increased prominence has led to the neglect of the concept of community policing.
However, community policing and homeland security share similar goals of enhancing public safety and the realization of this would lead to better cooperation between the two. Many roles and approaches by department of homeland security and community policing in enhancing public safety overlap (Friedman et al, 2007). A good example is that both community policing and homeland security focus on crime prevention rather than reacting to crime. Homeland security focuses on preventing terrorist attacks while community policing focuses on preventing criminal activities by attacking their root causes. Each of these also relies on the approach of information gathering and recognizes the importance of community involvement in enhancing public safety. Therefore, community policing satisfy the core element of homeland security. In order to enhance cooperation between homeland security and community policing, the two should be viewed as complementary rather than competing forces.
Reference
Friedman, Robert R. and Cannon, William J. (2007) “Homeland Security and Community Policing: Competing or Complementing, Public Safety Policies,” Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management: Vol. 4: Iss. 4, Article 2, retrieved on November 25, 2010, from Http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=cj…
