BRATTLEBORO — I have been approached numerous times and asked about my philosophy on policing and the direction I will lead the Brattleboro Police Department, so will take this opportunity to express my thoughts on our role within this community.
I am a very strong advocate of community-involved policing - a concept that is not new. These are not my original ideas. Nor - most importantly - is this style of law enforcement a list of activities to check off as completed.
Instead, community-involved policing is a values system that permeates the department.
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The goal of community-involved policing is to work cooperatively with individuals, groups, and both public and private organizations to identify and resolve issues that potentially affect the livability of the community.
We will stress prevention, early identification, and timely intervention by dealing with issues before they become unwieldy problems.
Officers will be encouraged to spend considerable time and effort in developing and maintaining personal relationships with citizens, businesses, schools, and community organizations.
By fostering this relationship we can significantly improve the ability of the department to discover criminal conduct and clear offenses, and to make arrests.
This process evolves, develops, takes root, and grows until it is an integral part of the formal and informal values system of both the police and community.
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My philosophy of policing emphasizes citizen interaction and participation in problem solving.
It exists when officers spend a significant amount of their available time out of their patrol cars, when officers are a common sight at businesses, in schools and recreation areas, and while walking downtown.
It exists when an organization wouldn't even think of tackling a significant issue of community concern without involving the police. We will have an open and well-used process for addressing citizen grievances.
We handle criminal cases with suspects and victims very well, but policing is much more than law enforcement. Officers need to accept a significant role in issues that might be referred to as “social work.”
We are responding more and more to calls in which no crime has been committed but there is an obvious need of assistance. If a property owner requests that we trespass an individual from their property, we should go a couple steps further. The situation will not resolve itself by moving the problem along and issuing multiple trespass notices.
For individuals who are homeless or experiencing some form of addiction, we should inform them of the various agencies in the area that might be able to offer them assistance.
Another example is dealing with people suffering from a mental-health crisis. The initial call might have been reported as a noise disturbance or someone acting erratically. While it is determined that no crime has been committed and that person is not a danger to themselves or others, we shouldn't just walk away. We need to establish a relationship with mental-health care providers to determine what kind, if any, assistance is needed.
We should also be involved with schools, and other community programs that help people make smart decisions. We should go to their meetings and be actively involved with all the participants. When we understand why people make the decisions they do, we are in a better position to assist them.
We should be available to merchants and homeowners to answer questions concerning environmental security (like outside lighting, bushes in front of windows, locking doors, basic safety/security advice). We should meet with the senior population and talk about ways people might take advantage of them, to listen to their concerns and fears.
We cannot arrest ourselves out of a problem that concerns our community. We have to find its root and take steps from there. In most cases, the police department is the first to be notified of these issues, and it is important we help break the cycle or we are just spinning our wheels.
Officers need to understand that being involved in “social work” is an essential form of valid and valuable police work which affects the livability of a community, and not a diversion.
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The department will define success and accomplishment primarily by outcomes and the satisfaction of the consumers of our services - the citizens of Brattleboro - rather than by strictly internal measures of the amount of work completed. We need to increase the emphasis on outcomes.
Doing the right thing is as important as doing things right.
I am very fortunate to to start this journey with the caliber of men and women we have in the police department. These consummate professionals have dedicated themselves unselfishly to the betterment of our community.
We are excited to bring our service to the next level and for all the successes that lie ahead.
Thank you for your kind words of support and confidence. I look forward to serving you.