What are your feelings about your local police departments

[jawathehutt]

I'm doing a research project and would like some informal answers regarding your local police departments. The research is specifically regarding small and medium sized cities in Germany, but just for reference I'd like to hear responses from anyone who cares to share. Please just share as much info on your location as you care to share, if possible at least say the country and size of the city. Below are some basic questions, feel free to answer them or don't:

1. How "visible" is your police department? Do you see them patrolling, running radar, ect or is it more of that unless someone has broken a law then they come out?

2. Are there certain types of violations they are more likely to react to, for example: graffitti, drug offenses, gang related crimes?

3. Does your police force engage in community policing, for example: are they engaged in the community, making connections to citizens and using the public as a resource in fighting crime?

4. How militarized would you consider your police department?

Thank you

[Sabretooth]

1. They have a fair presence, though not as much as after the 2008 terror attacks.

2. From what I've seen, drunk and reckless driving gets their attention the fastest, followed by sexual abuse.

3. There are a lot of campaigns about remaining vigilant and they do a good job advertising means to reach out to the police. I've also seen a lot of beat cops maintain friendly relations with residents of the neighbourhood they patrol. Despite their efforts though, the police here don't have a rosy PR image and are generally viewed as corrupt brutes.

4. They have armoured cars stationed at several important locations. There was supposed to be a program where the cops were going to be equipped with UAVs, but I think that got scrapped. There are no SWAT teams, and small arms are replicas of Stens and Enfields. In 2012, yes. Bulletproof vests are in short supply and yeah, the militarisation is *very* lopsided and inefficient.

[90SK]

1. Visible, I see patrol cars very often around the campus where I live.

2. Graffiti and drug offenses.

3. The police here do not enforce strictly. These cops are more like peace officers and they are a college police force so the scale on which they operate is more college oriented and less like an actual town or city police force. They are here to serve and protect as much if not more than they are here to enforce and preserve the law.

4. Not particularly militarized.

[Mandalore The Shadow]

1. Their presence is noticeable but they seem more involved in speed traps and such. They do patrol alot at night though.

2. As I mentioned before: Speeding (even when it is less than 5 miles over the limit) they have been involved in bigger things but I dont know much about them. Let's suffice to say they stick to speeding and shoplifting.

3. I would say not much more than is necessary for them. Although they do not shun the citizenry.

4. Not very. They have their pistols on their belts and the shotguns in their cars and they drive... I want to say Chargers. So: nothing special.

[LDR]

Pittston, Pennsylvania, USA

 

1.) Not really. I see police cars here and there. Half of the policemen I've seen are...well... fat.

2.) Well, if you scream "****!!!!!!!" in the air at the top of your lungs, that may cause some notice. Although they do help out other local police departments if there's gang problems (Scranton).

3.) You could have a good conversation with them at Dunkin' Donuts.

4.) Basic hanguns, tasers, and police cars.

 

Then again, I don't see police all that much. Mostly when I go to watch fights and such.

[Astor]

Warwickshire Police Force -

 

1. Quite visible, especially seeing as it's the second smallest force in England, with only 1,000 officers covering over 500,000 people, but then again the town I live in is home to a secondary headquarters for the north of the force area.

 

2. Mostly the same as the rest of the UK - anti-social behaviour (vandalism, alcohol fuelled crime), traffic offences, and drugs offences.

 

3. Every Police Officer I've come into contact with, aside from being courteous, always seems to have a good knowledge of the community and local area, which is backed up by both Community Support Officers and the Safer Neighbourhood Team which engages with communities and assists with awareness campaigns and Neighbourhood Watch associations.

 

4. Not at all. Aside from having to wear stab vests as standard, Officers rarely carry tasers, and for firearms offences there are specially trained officers who are called out to deal with them.

[mur'phon]

Oslo

 

1: Area dependent, but not terribly visible outside the trouble spots.

 

2: Anti social behavior

 

3: Unsure

 

4: Not at all. If they carry weapons at all, it tends to be battons (exceptions in special cases, like whenever a certain terrorist needs to visit the courthouse). Quite a few police cars do have weapons stored inside, however, they need permission to use them.

[mimartin]

Lake Jackson, TX USA

 

1. Pretty visible. They patrol the area constantly. Mainly traffic, but they seem to at least pretend to be watching out for property too. Often when I’m out late at night I seem the driving behind shopping centers and down alleys. Strong presents in school zones, not really protecting children, but writing speeding tickets and tickets for using cell phones in a school zone.

 

2. Drugs and traffic mainly. Other than the occasional idiot trying to rob a bank, not much else for them to do. We have a underage curfew, but it seems to me that the police largely ignore the law unless something is getting out of hand.

 

3. Plenty of community involvement. There is a citizens police force and most of the officers are originally from this community, so I’ve known some of them for over 20 years. Of course there are some power hungry jerks on the force too, but no more than the norm for the community. I just steer clear of those in my dealings with the police. Overall I’d say we have a pretty fair and friendly police force in the area.

 

4. Not overly militarized, but more so than the average citizen would think. Had a officer death about 20 or so years ago and the police department upgraded significantly from a typical rural police department to more what a suburb of Houston police department should be.