(ThyBlackMan.com) Most community policing isn’t done by the police.
Sounds like an eye brow raiser so let’s break it down. Good parenting is community policing. Mentoring is community policing. Promoting self-love via activism is community policing. Notice how non-governmental community policers easily outnumber government peers? This is my area of significant contribution. Policing by Black citizens on behalf of inner cities and society is my lifes work. Partnerships ( where possible ) between citizen policers and police are also underway. A show I did on Black Superheroes: Fact and Fiction: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nadraenzi/2010/02/27/black-superheroes-fact-and-fiction shared community policing as personified by the lively persons of its guests.
An online comic book publisher; a former Guardian Angel; an educator and 
counselor; an online show hostess and the owner of a single mother non-profit joined me in discussing what was essentially community policing. Under the umbrella of Black superheroes we shared personal attempts at policing via professional interaction; volunteer street walking; comic book creation and service delivery as a social entrepreneur. Our methods revolved around what Black folks can do to change our situation, i.e the essence of the community policing paradigm.
There was no one ideology promoted. Rolling up your sleeves and going on the front lines was the only requirement. A passive community invites increasingly militarized police presence as safety spirals ever downward. These active citizens police in ways that complement and transcend law enforcement’s traditional reach. Their access isn’t confined to marked units working a beat. Their tours aren’t limited to assigned shifts. Like private security, on site presence is their tactical advantage. They can simply stay somewhere longer than government counterparts.
While officers are elsewhere providing conventional policing services these citizen policers can focus greater attention to vital issues. Firsthand experience informs my support of community policing. I’ve helped senior citizens; arranged the ” Great Vacation ” of incarceration for neighborhood hoods and assisted youth by sharing more time than most officers can afford. Community policing expands the franchise beyond exporting punishment to providing prevention. Activist approaches expand the public safety continuum by recognizing that citizens police as actively as law enforcement.
” Big Norm ” was one of the show’s callers. Numerous citizens arrests and patrolling bad communities fill his resume. Patrolling citizens add more protectors to society’s arsenal. Fellow host ” Star ” energetically assessed social programs impact on family cohesion. Another caller outlined privately combating ” internalized repression ” within Black youth. Collectively they offered a steady stream of community policing strategies. Policing is broader than badges and guns. Community policing is just that: community members providing services instead of being uninvolved consumers of police services.
This is the ” crime ” primarily addressed by my Crime Isn’t A Civil Right! presentation. Inaction often means self-love has waned. Active self-love is expressed in various citizen policer roles: parent; mentor; activist; professional, etc. Policing the community is best done by you and me, alone and alongside police when necessary. Dysfunctional history with law enforcement shouldn’t handcuff citizen ability to police where we can. My Black Superhero episode guests elegantly demonstrated this simple fact for a glorious hour.
Community policing begins personally.
Staff Writer; Nadra Enzi
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