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<br />I M I ESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF <br /> <br />Chief Robel"t Makela <br /> <br />Vision of Community Policing Within the Centennial Lakes Police Department <br /> <br />Our Governing Board and Operations Committee have retained the services of the Upper <br />Midwest Community Policing Institute to assist the Department in moving toward a more <br />participative, problem solving policing that has some accountability. <br /> <br />Consistent with that direction, it is essential to the success 0 f this undertaking that I <br />establish my vision for this initiative and define the meaning and components of <br />community oriented policing so that we begin with a common language. I further will <br />provide some examples of successful community policing initiatives to clarify <br />expectations. <br /> <br />Prior to the implementation phase of the work the Upper Midwest Community Policing <br />Institute will do with the Police Department, they facilitated a planning workshop with <br />members of the Governing Board, Operations Committee and Police Management. At <br />the conclusion ofthe workshop, the Board agreed on the following performance goals for <br />the police department for the year 2008. <br /> <br />· Broaden the scope of the police function by placing equal emphasis on crime <br />prevention, crime control, traffic enforcement, quality oflife and service. <br /> <br />· Develop and implement a formal system where the police serve as a catalyst for <br />the identification and resolution of problems within the community using real <br />time data to develop, modify and/or eliminate problem areas. <br /> <br />· Increase the number of officer-initiated collaborative problem solving solutions <br />within each officer's assigned geographic area. <br /> <br />· Institute a traffic enforcement program which addresses the public safety needs <br />and expectations of the community based on data identifying locations ofpersonal <br />injury crashes, violations contributing to motor vehicle and/or pedestrian crashes, <br />citizen complaints and general crime patterns. <br /> <br />· Provide comprehensive and timely crime and activity analysis to the Governing <br />Board and Operations Committee. <br /> <br />There is no commonly accepted definition of community policing and there has been an <br />historic tendency within our profession to label anything and everything as "community <br />policing". It is my belief that in order to serve our communities the police must have a <br />department-wide commitment to providing full service, personalized and decentalized, <br />with proactive partnerships. Members of the community must feel empowered to work in <br />meaningful partnerships with the police in order to solve crime, fear of crime, disorder or <br />decay and to improve the quality of life within their community. <br /> <br />3 <br />