Reductions in police department funding have raised the importance of volunteers in enhancing organizational performance, improving community trust and confidence, and at times accomplishing basic tasks to maintain public safety and security. During a period when police administrators are asked to do more with less, and to engage in smarter, community-oriented policing, citizen volunteers are an invaluable resource. Police Reserves and Volunteers is an invaluable primer for those looking to understand the benefits and challenges involved in the use of the volunteers within global law enforcement agencies. Using cases from a range of specialists and precincts, this edited volume provides a rare window into police administration from the state legislation that regulates police reserves in California to the local models observed in many counties and cities across the United States. Police Reserves and Volunteers offers volunteers, local elected officials, and law enforcement straightforward guidelines to enhance police goals and build public trust in local communities.
Martin Alan Greenberg explores the origins of the two major types of citizen volunteer police--auxiliary and reserve--and examines the history and current practices of volunteer policing. The heart of the book deals with the history of New York City's volunteer police and the inner workings of the New York City Auxiliary Police, a subject the author knows intimately from his twelve years' experience as a participant-observer. Greenberg analyzes and evaluates current issues in volunteer policing. Based on his findings, he projects increased community involvement in volunteer police forces.
Today, it is estimated there are over 200,000 volunteers in police work throughout the United States. Although the need for such volunteers has never been greater, there is a lack of published materials regarding the nature of volunteer police work and how qualified citizens may augment police services. American Volunteer Police: Mobilizing for Security provides a selective overview of the history, organizations, operations, and legal aspects of volunteer police in various U.S. states and territories. Designed to help police leaders adopt or modify their own volunteer programs, the book: Highlights what average Americans have done and are currently doing to safeguard their communities Presents contributions of police and safety volunteers at all levels of government--including the work of FEMA volunteers, the Civil Air Patrol, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary Examines youth involvement in contemporary police departments Discusses a variety of legal matters concerning volunteer participation in policing Includes the latest Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) standards concerning auxiliary and reserve police Explores new roles for volunteer police, including the treatment of homeless persons, the prevention of human trafficking, violence prevention in schools, immigration and border protection, and the establishment of college-level reserve police officer training cadet programs Framed by modern concerns for homeland security and community safety, the book places the topic in historical and international contexts. It will serve as a catalyst for the development of courses as well as growth in the number of qualified volunteer police, a necessary resource for homeland security. A 103-page online instructional manual is available for instructors who have adopted this book. It includes model answers to each of the review questions found at the end of each chapter as well as additional student exercises and related updated references.
One of today's most pressing issues in criminology and crime prevention is the problem of crime in our cities and towns and its prevention. The topic of crime prevention in the Urban Community was discussed at the 47th International Course of the International Society for Criminology (ISC) held at Chuo University, Tokyo. It was the very first time such an ISC meeting was held in Asia and this meant that finally a relatively large number of Japanese and other Asian participants were able to express their views on criminal policy and crime prevention in urban centres all over the world. Crime in urban communities is not an exclusively Western phenomenon, but it is also a considerable problem in other parts of the world. This makes an interchange of ideas between Western, Eastern and Third-World criminologists particularly important. General characteristics of the urban communities that suffer from a high crime rate are ethnic and racial tensions, a mix of old housing areas and new business districts, a prevailing sense of anonymity, slums and juvenile delinquency. The existence of these general characteristics besides mutual differences makes cooperation in the crime prevention sphere definitely worth the effort.