NJ LEE Community Policing & Public Relations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A resident calls the police department to complain that officers never patrol her street. What is the BEST community policing response?
- Tell her patrol routes are confidential
- Schedule a follow-up call and review patrol data for her area (Correct answer)
- Transfer her to the mayor's office
- Inform her that patrol is determined solely by crime statistics
Correct answer: Schedule a follow-up call and review patrol data for her area
Community policing requires actively listening to residents and using their input to improve service delivery.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes the concept of 'co-production' in community policing?
- Police producing their own training materials
- Community members and police jointly identifying and solving problems (Correct answer)
- Officers producing written reports with community input
- Residents funding additional police equipment
Correct answer: Community members and police jointly identifying and solving problems
Co-production means residents and police work together as partners to produce public safety outcomes.
Question 3: An officer notices a group of teenagers congregating near a convenience store nightly. The store owner has not complained. What should the officer do FIRST?
- Order the teenagers to disperse
- Arrest them for loitering
- Introduce himself and engage them in conversation to assess the situation (Correct answer)
- Contact their parents immediately
Correct answer: Introduce himself and engage them in conversation to assess the situation
Community policing emphasizes building relationships before assuming a problem exists.
Question 4: In New Jersey, the Attorney General's 'Use of Force' guidelines reinforce community policing by requiring officers to prioritize:
- Arrest quotas
- Officer safety exclusively
- De-escalation tactics before resorting to force (Correct answer)
- Rapid response over community engagement
Correct answer: De-escalation tactics before resorting to force
NJ AG guidelines mandate de-escalation as a priority, which aligns with community policing's emphasis on minimal conflict.
Question 5: A police department wants to reduce fear of crime among elderly residents. Which community policing strategy is MOST effective?
- Increasing visible patrol cars
- Establishing a senior liaison officer program with regular home visits (Correct answer)
- Publishing monthly crime statistics in the newspaper
- Installing more streetlights
Correct answer: Establishing a senior liaison officer program with regular home visits
Direct, personal contact through a liaison program builds trust and directly addresses fear among vulnerable populations.
Question 6: What does 'displacement' mean in the context of community policing problem-solving?
- Relocating officers to different precincts
- When crime moves to another area after police intervention in one location (Correct answer)
- Replacing community meetings with online forums
- Transferring a difficult case to another unit
Correct answer: When crime moves to another area after police intervention in one location
Displacement occurs when targeted enforcement pushes criminal activity to nearby untreated areas rather than eliminating it.
Question 7: Which action by a community policing officer BEST demonstrates procedural justice?
- Issuing summonses quickly to clear the scene
- Explaining the reason for a stop and allowing the person to tell their side (Correct answer)
- Using body cameras during every encounter
- Referring all complaints to a supervisor
Correct answer: Explaining the reason for a stop and allowing the person to tell their side
Procedural justice centers on treating people fairly, explaining decisions, and giving them a voice in the interaction.
NJ LEE Community Policing & Public Relations 2
A resident calls the police department to complain that officers never patrol her street.
What is the BEST community policing response?