Effective Strategies to Enhance Police Service Delivery

Over time, police department responsibilities have expanded from prioritizing order maintenance and law enforcement to routinely encompassing tasks that involve medical emergencies, social welfare, and mental health crises, as well as other societal tribulations. As such, the success and performance of contemporary policing cannot be evaluated based solely on crime or arrest rates, but must look at a broader array of important variables. A greater effort must be made to develop accurate measures of police service delivery. More importantly, since policing involves public service, it would be most appropriate to gain public insight and feedback into key perspectives of police service delivery, particularly to maintain the goals outlined within the principles of policing stipulated by Sir Robert Peel at the onset of professional public policing in the late 1820s, almost 200 years ago. It is obvious that public involvement and effective leadership are key factors to ensuring that police service is delivered at optimal levels and to the satisfaction of the communities being served. Specific strategies will be examined in an effort to propose policy recommendations and examples of impressive practices that have the potential to enhance police service delivery and increase public trust and confidence in the police at a time when public sentiment has questioned the credibility of the police at times.