Officer James Armstrong, School Resource Officer at Riverside High School, has discovered spray-painted graffiti on the concession stand of the school's football field. Officer Armstrong has recently attended a Gang Investigation course and recognizes that the graffiti looks suspiciously like gang related artwork. Officer Armstrong alerts the Principal and is informed that similar graffiti is also located in the front parking lot of the school. Several teachers have expressed concern about recent news reports that gang violence is increasing in nearby areas. Riverside has historically been a good school. The school has won several awards for safety and is considered by many in the community an outstanding school. It is a concern to the school, and the community, that the gang violence that has affected the neighboring urban city of Rockville may be spreading to Riverside. Residents are fearful that the historically safe and secure Riverside High School may be under a threat of violence itself.

You are the Chief of Police of Riverside. Using the SARA model evaluate the implementation of a plan to address this issue with the Town Council at its next meeting. Be sure to include an examination of how your own multiculturalism and diversity perspectives may impact the plan elements.

Here is my response:

<<< Implementation of Problem-Oriented Policing Within Criminal Justice Entities

While crime remains an unsolved puzzle in the community and the criminal justice system, numerous models and policing strategies have been developed to try and solve crimes. For instance, problem-oriented policing (POP), established in 1979 by Herman Goldstein, was a revolutionary crime combating model used widely until today (CEBCP, 2022). The model aims to achieve specific results, such as lowering crime rates of a particular type of crime in the community. POP adopts several techniques to effectively solve challenges, including the SARA (scanning, analysis, response, and assessment) model (ASU, n.d.; College of Policing, 2020). This analysis will adopt the SARA model to evaluate an implementation plan to address the issue of graffiti linked to gangs in Riverside High School.

Scanning

Scanning is the first phase of the POP process. It involves the identification of recurring problems and their consequences to the public. Law enforcement officers establish the security issue, prioritize it, and set broad goals to solve it (ASU, n.d.). In this case, the security concern in Riverside concerns suspected gang activities in school and the community. The security concern was raised by James Armstrong, the school resource officer at Riverside high school. Armstrong spotted sprayed graffiti in two different locations in the school: the football field stands and the parking lot. He is a trained Gang Investigation officer spotting the suspicious artwork associated with criminal gangs. Additionally, several teachers raised similar concerns over the increasing gang violence around the school, fearing gang influence.

In addition, the scanning stage involves answering some fundamental questions. Is the security concern perceived or real? What are the implications of failing to deal with the issue? What are the extent of the issue and its spreading rate if not contained? In this case, the graffiti in school are most likely linked to gang activities judging from the rising gang violence in Riverside. The consequences of gangs are countless, from drug abuse, theft, murder to other criminal activities. Failure to control the threat will adversely affect Riverside high school, ruining its good reputation.

Analysis

The second phase of the process involves learning more about the identified problem in society. Here, the goal is to use relevant data to come up with a helpful explanation of the occurrence of the security threat in the area and the pattern of occurrence (Criminal Justice, 2020). The analysis also allows crime projection crucial in planning mitigation operations. In this case, data maintained by the police departments in Riverside is crucial for the analysis. Especially the recent reporting linked to gang activities, location of crimes, time, and dates. Further data analysis can map the gang operation areas or region and their patterns. Moreover, consideration of existing efforts for combating gang activities in the area is vital. The POP effort can build gang-fighting techniques from the existing efforts by the federal agencies.

Response

The third stage addresses the security threat through collaborative efforts from law enforcement agencies and community stakeholders. It aims to identify and select suitable interventions or responses with the highest capabilities to deal with security threats. Strategies for sustainable success in suppressing gang activities in Riverside and safeguarding the security of the community and high school students who are most vulnerable are crucial. The response stage aims to answer two fundamental questions: What are the possible intervention to address the security concern? And which of the possible intervention will yield the best result for a long-term security solution.

Curbing gang activities at Riverside can be achieved by several interventions. One is increasing police patrol in the area of operations established in the analysis stage (ASU, n.d.; Criminal Justice, 2020). Special and regular inspection of tunnels and abandoned buildings where major gang activities occur. Additionally, POP is more successful with some aspects of a community surveillance system. This move involves launching a 24-hour community reporting system for gangs and suspicious activities, offering wider coverage by the police. Here, the community members are the "watchdogs" in the initiatives. It also involves a special police unit that will be on standby to respond to any report by the community members immediately. Lastly, the school resources officer and teachers will work together with the police to report suspicious activities in and around the school.

Assessment

The final step of the SARA model involves evaluating the effectiveness of the POP initiative. It involves two primary questions: Was each intervention implementation consistent with the overall plan? Did the interventions achieve the intended objectives? If the answer to any of these two questions is no, then an amendment of the plan is required, especially if the initiative failed to solve the crime threat in the area of concern. Insufficient resources could be one of the reasons why POP programs fail. As such, the government's proper funding of POP programs is a crucial element of success. Reduced crime rates characterize the success of POP. In this case, success would be marked by reduced gang operation in the area and the arrest of notorious gang members. Riverside residence and the school administration will work with the police to erase the suspicious graffiti in the streets and the school.

Here is where i need help------->

1. Identify the concerns of criminal justice professionals regarding the needs of a multicultural and diverse population.

2. Discusses how criminal justice professionals address the needs of a multicultural and diverse population.