Service to the Public

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Service to the Public

This is a service that is provided to the public by the government. The services may come in various forms and the government provides it to the people within its jurisdiction. Some of these services could include provision of schools, hospitals, environmental care, fire protection and the police to name but a few. As such, these services fall in the departments and ministries of the government (White, 2014). These services could be provided directly to the people through the public sector or the government could fund the private sector to provide the same.

It is the key role of the government to provide public services. Citizens depend upon these services and they expect that they are delivered in the right manner; with integrity, revolving around them and in a way that responds to their needs. They also focus more on the needs of the most vulnerable. As a result, the citizens get to feel the efficiency and effectiveness of these services and are also enabled to voice their needs and get involved in improving delivery of service. Public service thus accounts a big percentage of the government budget.According to Berdal & Suhrke, (2013), community policing has enabled the police to respond more to public service. The police departments are coming up with new ways to better meet the needs of the citizens. Their position as being law enforcers has changed and they have become part of the society unlike when they use to see themselves as a totally different entity. They have become creative thinkers and are using their creative imagination to identify ways of solving problems. Community policing must then consider creative problem solving, professional utilization of government resources and high levels of investigation abilities. The three pillars of community policing are: Organizational Transformation, Community Partnership and Problem Solving.

Community partnership involves the police, the citizens and local agencies coming together to deal with community problems. For example, In the City of Naperville, IL, there has been an emerging gang and cases of burglary which the police have been dealing with. In 2002, The Naperville Police Department started a service center in the neighborhood which provided. Services to do with public safety such as filing police reports and obtaining permits for parking. The center involved a mix of sworn in and civilian personnel. It became a well-known center and the citizens made use of the services within few months of opening.

Problem solving focuses on ways to prevent crimes from happening. Issues associated with criminal activities are addressed. It involves professional analysis, creative problem solving and the citizens identifying the course of problems in order to come up with ways of dealing with it. As an example, the Anaheim Police Department, in the mid-1990s, managed to successfully remove problem tenants through working with landlords, tenants and the Neighborhood Services Office to create a Committee of Neighborhood Advisory. This improved safety and reduced reporting incidences.

Organizational transformation involves restructuring the department and bringing transformational changes. It could include changes in the organizational structure, personal practices and systems of information technology (Flemes, 2016). . The aim is to facilitate closer and more efficient contacts between the police associated with a given area and the residents. The city of San Francisco, which was being faced by retiring officers, trained 16 civilian investigators whose work was to deal with gathering victim information, evidence and creating reports that could be used by the officers for continued investigation.

Reference

White, M. D. (2014). The New York City Police Department, its crime control strategies and

organizational changes, 1970-2009. Justice Quarterly, 31(1), 74-95.

Berdal, M., & Suhrke, A. (Eds.). (2013). The peace in between: post-war violence and

peacebuilding. Routledge.

Flemes, D. (Ed.). (2016). Regional leadership in the global system: ideas, interests and

strategies of regional powers. Routledge.