POLICING AND THE LATINO COMMUNITY

By William Hanna

INTRODUCTION

The contexts for my comments are twofold 1 . First, there has been a formalistic introduction of "community policing" into many neighborhoods of Prince George's County and elsewhere within the Washington Metropolitan Area and throughout the country. Second, my current research and community service work is in Langley Park, especially beat 4A, a predominantly-Latino neighborhood located at the western edge of Prince George's County near University Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue, about seven miles northwest of the White House.

Community policing, as many people have said, is "a work in progress." I do believe, however, that community policing has some fundamental elements that are important to consider for immigrant and other neighborhoods.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

The rate of crime in Latino neighborhoods is comparatively high. The rates of murder, rape, and robbery in Langley Park are more than double the comparable state figures. Several gangs have been active, some led by former Californians who imported their gang skills. (I hear names such as "Brown Union," "LP Cholos," and "209".)

Lots of drugs are sold along the street and in some apartment houses. The drug of choice is crack cocaine. (The first time I had crack in hand was in Langley Park!) Drugs are not a new phenomenon for Langley Park. For instance, in March 1983 state police seized cocaine and methaqualone tablets with an estimated street value --then -- of $400,000.

In a neighborhood such as Langley Park, the numbers and rates of unreported crimes are also high.

A group of Langley Park teenagers was recently asked what they thought was the most pressing problem facing the residents. These are some of their responses, as published in the newspaper Barrio de Langley Park:

"The most important need is an increased presence of police officers (especially Spanish-speaking Latino officers) walking and driving along 14th Avenue, Merrimac Drive, and other key neighborhood streets. We want real neighborhood policing.

"We need more police officers to protect the streets. There are too many drug sellers; they should be arrested."

"We need more police officers. On the street, there are young people who are smoking drugs, and sometimes I can't go outside because there are young people who like to bother a young girl. Protection; we need that."

"We need more police officers on the streets, especially at night when everything is lonely and quiet."

"Sometimes, I go to the Northwest Branch park, and I have seen many gangsters in the park. We need police officers on horses or bicycles."

WHY HIGH CRIME?

Why is there so much crime in Langley Park, its adjoining localities, and similar neighborhoods? There are several important factors.

One factor is transience. The movement of residents in and out of the neighborhood impairs the development of social controls that inhibit crime; if a person doesn't see a residential situation as long-term, she isn't likely to invest in the neighborhood.

A second factor is fears. Many residents fear crime, criminals, and governmental authority. They learned the fear-government attitude through bitter experiences in their home countries and perhaps some bitter experiences here. A Law Enforcement News report on Manchester, Connecticut, carries this quotation from a community police officer: "These people do not feel comfortable enough to call and have the 'government' act. [But] they will talk to me -- an officer they know."

Time is a third factor. Going to a police station or court takes valuable time away from one's work and family. Members of the working class are least likely to be able to afford such time.

Fourth, criminal activities are attractive. There are many vulnerable young people who can be recruited into crime. The vulnerability is due to poor job opportunities, difficult school challenges, and the appeals of people already in the crime business.

Physical design is a final factor. The physical design of the area may contribute to the drug trade. In the City of Mount Rainier, for instance, drug dealers were deterred by the placing of concrete barriers and planters and heavy iron gates in alleys and streets that had doubled as escape routes. There's even a name for this approach: CPTED, crime prevention through environmental design. A Washington Post writer said this: "The same amenities planned to attract GIs in the late 1940s -- access to major roadways, spacious courtyards and parking lots, scores of passageways, laundry rooms in most buildings -- lured 1980s drug merchants serving a large, mobile market, and dealers and customers fleeing police."

GOAL

What is our goal? Almost all police officers and local residents share the goal of a drop in the rate of crime. Safety and security are shared high priorities.

The current practice tends to emphasize the following elements: (1) "Objective" enforcement of discrete laws; (2) Responding and arresting, on "preventive" patrol; and (3) Crime-oriented patrolling in vehicles.

POLICE=PROBLEM?

In this county and in many jurisdictions around the country, many Latinos think of police as the problem, not the solution.

Some police "brutality" has occurred in Langley Park. On one occasion in 1996, for instance, county police officers tied a Salvadoran to a utility pole, left a brief note, and departed. Even I have witnessed one incident -- and of course I've heard about others.

Some police officers have behaved in ways that are interpreted as disrespectful to Latino and other immigrant residents. Last year, the Hispanic National Law Enforcement Association stated that "A lot of Latinos are being discriminated against."

Former New York City Police Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy notes: "The traditional police officer is primarily exposed to criminals, pushers, addicts, alcoholics, gang members, and other police clients. They rarely get to know the majority members of a neighborhood: the law-abiding good people."

WHAT'S POSITIVE?

Perhaps the neighborhood residents' only positive image in Langley Park is of the work of a non-commissioned Latino police department stiffer who is the only employee working in police sub-station within the neighborhood.

DIRECTIONS FOR CHANGE

Langley Park needs a fully implemented "community policing" program. But what is "community policing"? Jerome Skolnick and David Bayley, writing in a U.S. Department of Justice publication in 1988, have stated the philosophy and elements of community policing. The philosophy, the authors write, is that community policing is "a collaboration between the police and the community that identifies and solves community problems."

Here is my list of key elements:

(1) The focus -- the concern -- must be on the neighborhood and its residents. Thus police officers must engage in neighborhood-based crime prevention activities using education, neighborhood watches, etc. According to a Hopkinton, Rhode Island police officer: "The people in the neighborhood are the eyes and ears of the Police Department." Officers must be frequent meetings with residents. Visible foot patrols must be conducted (Research by Robert Trojanowicz and others shows that foot patrols reduce residents' fears.) An important side payoff is that community police officers often come to care about the neighborhood. In Law Enforcement News, a report on Manchester, Connecticut states: "Community police officers developed a strong benevolent sense of ownership within their neighborhoods."

(2) The training of police officers should involve learning how to work in and with community residents (and a consequent reorientation of performance evaluation that downplays arrest production statistics). Officers must receive training in cross-cultural communication.

(3) The assignments of police officers must be made with the neighborhood in mind; random or routine assignments may well not be effective. For instance, long-term officer assignments should be made to a particular neighborhood so that officers continue their neighborhood training in the field. Also, beat profiling (building on the San Diego model) should be done to enhance officers' neighborhood familiarity and effectiveness. Of course, bilingual officers who can converse with residents should be assigned to immigrant neighborhoods.

(4) A greater emphasis should be placed on "proactive" techniques to keep reactivity to a necessary level. That might mean, inter alias, to focus on prevention efforts such as foot patrols. Opportunities must be created for non-enforcement police-resident interaction. For instance, the Durham, North Carolina police department challenged local Latino residents to a soccer match! By the way, the police were badly beaten but were victorious due to the resulting better communication.

(5) An implication of some of these steps is that commanders should devolve decision making responsibility to include these elements: a significant involvement of residents in making decisions about police priorities and practices; and more responsibility to officers who work at the neighborhood level.

CHALLENGE

Perhaps the greatest challenge for traditional police officers is to change their ways of doing their work. Edward A. Flynn, the Police Chief of Arlington, Virginia, argues that "changing the mind-sets and the attitudes regarding personal responsibility and accountability" is a key challenge. He notes, "Traditional policing promoted a sense of organization, not personal responsibility." But individual responsibility is at the heart of community policing.

Judging from the attitudes of residents as well as the relatively high rates of crime, there are opportunities to improve the quality of policing in Latino and other immigrant neighborhoods. Of course, some additional monies may be needed. But of greater importance, there must be a serious commitment to "community policing" in its essential meaning and more police-residents partnerships working to create neighborhoods that are safe and secure.

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