Keeping communities safe is the duty of both, police officers and community residents. Laws and policing tactics have changed a lot through the years, but the desire to keep communities safe has not. “Community Policing and Laws,” explores key topics such as citizens helping reduce crime through community watch programs, street people and the law, maintaining order at a protest, and keeping rural communities safe. It is an informative look at how effective police training and community awareness reduce crime and how police are restrained by the law in dealing with certain types of problems.
Included Films:
Communities and Environmental Laws
Communities and Environmental Laws
Produced: 2004
Length: 21 Minutes
“Communities and Environmental Laws,” was produced to let people of lower incomes know about their rights and legal options for pollution in their communities. It is meant to empower people to seek healthy living conditions and stay informed about the law.
Community Policing
Community Policing
Produced: 1998
Length: 23 Minutes
“Community Policing,” trains police officers in rural communities to maximize professionalism and law enforcement techniques. Its point is that 91 percent of law enforcement agencies are in rural environments and effective rural policing is important to the security of America.
Use of Force
Use of Force
Produced: 1993
Length: 15 Minutes
“Use of Force,” shows a peaceful, illegal protest that gets out of hand in order to show the proper police response to protests and how much force to use in such situations. It focuses on the balance between excessive force and keeping the community safe through following the law.
Neighborhood Safety
Neighborhood Safety
Produced: 1985
Length: 28 Minutes
In the 1980s, Texas did an experiment among the neighborhoods of Texas. The premise was to determine if greater police interaction with the citizens decreased crime in the area and made the neighbors feel safer in their homes. “Neighborhood Safety,” is a round table discussion of the study. Three experts in criminal justice, two administrators and an ex police officer, talk about what’s being done to make people feel safer and the problem of citizen crime watch committees, and neighborhood crime.
The Street People
The Street People
Produced: 1986
Length: 28 Minutes
The problem of street people is as old as cities. Santa Barbara saw a large influx of homeless people in the mid 1980s and, “The Street People,” discusses the laws surrounding the culture. It points out, homeless people do have the right to shelter outside even if they do not have the right to misbehave. It shows the limits of the police force in finding a solution to the problem. The terminology and ideas are a bit dated in reference to the psychology of homelessness, but the interviews with actual street dwellers, is illuminating to the culture and the middle ground average citizens, police officers, and street people must talk to coexist.
