The California Attorney General's Office has defined community policing as “…a philosophy, management style, and organizational strategy that promotes proactive problem solving and police community partnerships to address the causes of crime and fear as well as other community issues”.
This definition is as real on the implementation of safety in schools. Law enforcement officers constantly struggle to keep up with the growing trend of school violence and crime that is why it is time to put a stop to it. There can be many forms of student violence and they can range from mere threats, bullying or intimidation or it could be as serious as assault or sexual assault”. But these can be remedied if the police force collaborates with the school personnel. And just like any partnership, this joint effort will only become successful if the line of communication is constantly open and if there is mutual respect for each of the partner's responsibilities.
COPS (Office of Community Oriented Policing Services) recently funded the SBP (School-Based Partnership) grant program whose goal is to establish peace in schools. It could be a long shot but it is definitely worth trying. By gathering the efforts of parents, school personnel, and even local companies, this program is bound to succeed. Other useful efforts that could hinder school violence are holding surveys and open forums. With constant collaboration of these efforts, each member communicates to the people within the group his willingness to help and continue with the policing tasks. Above all, if the main concern-the students-are allowed to participate in these responsibilities, issues would definitely be resolved.
