81 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
81 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
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March 1991
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POLICE PRACTICES:
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM
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In an effort to improve police-community relations, the City
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of Delray Beach, Florida, Police Department created the
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Community Outreach Program (COP). This program allows police
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officers to be active in police-community relations. It not
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only facilitates the effective performance of the department but
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it also encourages citizen involvement. The specific goals of
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the program are to solicit citizen support in dealing with
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community problems, listen to the concerns of the citizens, and
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promote goodwill toward the department.
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THE PROGRAM
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COP officers initiate positive, unsolicited contact with
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residents. Uniformed officers meet regularly with both
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residents and merchants to inform them that officers are in the
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neighborhood to make the community both safe and drug free.
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Officers ask citizens to relay information about suspicious or
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illegal activity and give the citizens an information guide that
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answers frequently asked questions. Some of the questions
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addressed include:
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* Why are citizens who call in to make a complaint asked
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multiple questions?
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* What are the citizens' responsibilities to report
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criminal or suspicious activity?
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* How can citizens give information anonymously by calling
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a TIPS hotline?
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* How can residents help reduce crime in their
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neighborhoods through Crime Watch groups?
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The guide also includes information on home security and crime
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prevention, as well as other relevant topics.
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COP officers contact citizens and merchants only during
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daytime hours--the 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. shift and the early
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hours of the 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. shift. Officers working
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these shifts are required to make two unsolicited contacts with
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residents, as time permits. The visits usually last no more
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than 20 minutes; the goal is to open the lines of communication
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between police officers and citizens.
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LOG BOOKS
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In order to reduce the chance of duplicating citizen
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contacts, officers list their contacts in log books that are
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provided for each patrol zone. Shift supervisors assign the log
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books to patrol officers at daily briefings. When the shift
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ends, the log books are returned to the supervisor, who reviews
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the officers' contacts.
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RESULTS
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During the first 3 1/2 months of the Community Outreach
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Program, approximately 5,500 contacts were made with local
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residents and merchants. Initially, citizens were surprised to
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find an officer at their doors. Now, they are getting to know
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police officers, and as a result, officers are given valuable
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information that may have been disregarded or forgotten had
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positive contacts not been made.
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This program has also resulted in positive media attention
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for the department. It has built citizen trust and confidence
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in the police, and most importantly, it has built positive
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police-community relations citywide.
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_______________
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Information for this column was obtained from Sgt. Ross
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Licata, Delray Beach, Florida, Police Department.
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