I think that Bill has some things to think about here. I'm still
wondering what the mayoral and council member candidates think about
this though. Come on guys, don't be shy!
I have also had a couple of people ask me to describe what my idea of
community policing is or means. I believe that the essence of community
policing is whatever a given community makes it. So if we were to take
some of the given responses to my question we would have a police dept.
that was paid more, that was more interactive with the community and
also held much more accountable for their conduct, whose members were
encouraged to live in the city of Minneapolis, who had better training,
who got out of their cars more to speak to residents (if the residents
felt comfortable enough and I think they eventually would with this new
model), that there were more beat cops walking alone, etc...My point
being that we can and should be able to make it into something that
serves our given needs.
Some people feel, including many in the police dept., that the Mpls.
Police Dept. already is practicing community policing whether it be
through CODEFOR, CCP/SAFE and/or other methods. I think we can do much
better though.
Cameron asked what we thought about CCP/SAFE. I personally feel that it
is a big step forward for the Minneapolis Police Dept. but I know we can
and should do more. The good thing about our SAFE teams is that they
are much more responsive to the particular needs of the given
neighborhoods and to individuals, at least in my experience. Our SAFE
teams are the closest thing we have to community policing at this point
and I feel that we should continue to support them and do our best to
make them into what we want from our police dept. Then we can move into
a much more holistic community policing approach that truly serves the
wants and needs of Minneapolis and our various neighborhoods.
I know that this is a bit pie-in-the-sky but we have to have something
to work towards. I would like to hear what some of the rest of you
think about this issue. What is your vision of true community policing,
how can we achieve it and what are you willing to do to support it?
Have a great Memorial Weekend.
Respectfully,
Matthew Dufresne
Central
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