to implement and keep a town’s community policing program alive and well. From the first page, it is known that there are many definitions of community policing. This does not complicate matters, but instead makes things more interesting because a department does not know the difference between right and wrong until implementation and training have begun.If a department finally does decide to officially start a community in a town, what is the right way to begin? From an interview with the Spokane, WA chief, Chief Terry Mangan believes “that in order to be successful, community policing has to happen slowly, from the bottom up, and it has to allow for adjustments depending on the particular needs of the community and neighborhoods”(Painter, 3). Chief Mangan believes that training should first start with the patrol officers, because this is where the bulk of officers will be in any police department. On the flipside of Spokane, WA, the department of Staten Island, NY has a totally opposite view of how to integrate community policing into their department. “It is a pervasive tone within a department, beginning with the chief executive and going down to the lowest ranks, both uniformed and plainclothes. In order for the philosophy to work, there must be total immersion of management and rank-and-files; there must be total commitment”(Community, 1). As we can see, there are two departments, and two totally different views on how to integrate community policing into their departments. Since both departments feel their plan is best, who’s right? It’s hard to say who is right and who is wrong, but the answer is that they both could be right! For example, the Spokane Chief makes a valid point in saying that from the bottom up, the department starts training with the patrol officers, because patrol officers are the people who will be making the most contact with the public. But the Staten Is...
