Ministers Partnership with Patrol Stations
Files
Date
2018
Authors
Weatherly, Colin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT)
Abstract
Description
In today’s culture, law enforcement is constantly looking for innovative ways to bring the police and the community closer together. Ministers have a great amount of power from the pulpit and can heavily influence their congregations in the support of the local police. Local pastors can utilize their influence by working with the police to help calm a neighborhood that questions a controversial police action, such as a shooting. This quick action, either on the scene, or from the pulpit by ministers, can quickly calm a community and help build a true relationship of trust and accountability between the police and the community. Law enforcement agencies should create a partnership between the local police station and the area pastors to further strengthen the police-community relationship. Building this partnership helps support the relationship policing model and builds community trust. It also provides another avenue of assistance to not only citizens in the community, but also to police officers on the scenes.
Research has shown that although the police-minister partnership is a fairly new concept, it has had great results in the cities it has been utilized in. Specific guidelines need to be set by each individual department on how pastors, officers, and citizens would interact at the scenes, but having all three together on scenes will only strengthen the community-police relationships that every department is striving for.
Keywords
Police-community relations, Church and social problems