Provo City

Community Based Policing Program


In September 2011, we began our transition to a department-wide Community Based Policing (CBP) initiative.  In the past our department has engaged in “community oriented policing” (COP) via a 5-person unit and philosophically embraced the concepts of COP.  Now, our entire department will take an active part in community based policing. 

Initiating a department wide CBP is difficult and efforts can be derailed absent commitment from the Chief of Police, and buy-in from department personnel, the community and political leaders.  I am committed to CBP as is the entire command staff.  In preparation for our transition, Captain Cliff Argyle and I presented our CBP plan to all stakeholders – department personnel, community leaders (neighborhood chairs) and political leaders (Mayor, City Department Heads and Municipal Council).  We gained valuable input from all three partners and have included that feedback in our final plan.  Our final step is the establishment of this vision statement and accompanying procedures for the Provo City Police Department’s CBP Initiative. 

The Police Department’s mission statement clearly delineates the commitment we have to be in partnership with our community. 

MissionStatement:  We work with citizens to improve quality of life, solve problems, safeguard liberties and stop crime.  We provide proactive service in a professional, compassionate manner.

While our Community Oriented Policing Unit has done an excellent job in building and maintaining the partnerships, it is time for the entire department to embrace and engage in CBP.  We recognize our limitations and our need for the important partnerships with our community – to work together to identify and solve problems, improve quality of life, reduce crime, reduce the fear of crime, and disorder.  The “three-legged stool” that defines our CBP is:  partnerships, prevention and problem-solving.  These three pillars will not only define our CBP, but will also guide our department’s relationship with our stakeholders – our community, the criminal justice system, and political leaders.

Geographical Policing -Accountability

Our CBP plan is built on a “Geographical-Policing” (GEO-Policing) structure.  The practice of GEO-Policing involves the division of department personnel among established districts or precincts and holding commanders responsible for their assigned area.  By holding commanders accountable they are thus holding the team assigned to that district accountable, and through ownership the team then holds itself accountable.

The Provo Model of CBP establishes 3-districts with a captain, lieutenant and 2 sergeants as the team leaders for each district.  District assignments for officers and detectives from both persons/property and Special Victims Unit have been made.  District captains and lieutenants are responsible for fully implementing the CBP within their assigned districts and have been given wide latitude in deployment, problem-solving, strategy development, and tactics.  Attached is a breakdown of district assignments.

Provo City Police Department Model CBP Goals

  • Officers having personal ownership and pride of a specific area within Provo City.
  • Each division within the Police Department and the community working together to solve common problems.
  • Maintain or increase public confidence in the Police Department.
  • Be cognizant and responsive to neighborhood concerns.
  • Bring community resources together to solve problems.
  • Direct patrols and make an impact on specific crime trends or problems in designated areas.
  • Reduce chronic and repetitive calls for service.
  • Educate the public and promote a positive image for the Police Department.
  • Reduce crime, the fear of crime and disorder in Provo City.
  • Encourage innovative strategies with appropriate risk taking.

Citizen Involvement (Partnerships)

We actively seek to partner with our community through such activities as our Citizen’s Police Academy, National Night Out, Volunteers in Policing, Mobile Watch, service on business/community boards, and more.  We have added citizens to our oral board process for new officer hires.  We use the news media, social media, and appearances and attendance to community events to inform and include our community in police activities, policy decisions, and general updates. 

Our CBP program will cement this relationship and not only involve the community, but create trust and a partnership with them – one of the program’s main goals.

Districts

Officers and staff have many responsibilities from division commands to special team(s) assignments.  Our CBP is built on the GEO-Policing concept and thus ownership for the district and functions within that district are a large part of what will be our success in this program.  Commanders and officers will be expected to report on crime trends, problems, quality of life issues, partnerships, community functions, and anything relative to our mission for their assigned district at our weekly operations meeting. 

The weekly meetings will focus on our “Top-5 crimes” city-wide but specifically the individual districts, and our crime reduction strategy which is: community based policing, a focus on quality of life issues, problem solving - data driven policing, and measuring our performance.  In addition to the weekly meetings, another important component of our CBP will be the continued use of the HOTSHEET to not only pass on information, but to research as well.  Officers should use the HOTSHEET for officer safety alerts, and to aid them in solving problems in their respective districts.  The key will be daily review and frequent updates or postings for pass on of information.

Commanders are given discretion, decision-making authority commensurate with their rank, and are expected to encourage the same for all personnel within the department.

Proactive Policing

The department’s CBP requires personnel to focus their proactive time in assigned districts, or if not assigned a district, in direct support of district commanders needing assistance with problems, crime trends, community events or the like.  Officers are not merely “report-takers” but highly trained problem-solvers and investigators.  As such we support decentralized decision making and provide personnel with the flexibility to identify problems and solutions, engage in prevention or crime reduction efforts, and build partnerships.  With proactive time, personnel should be looking for ways to improve the quality of life in Provo and not just on response times, number of arrests and tickets written.

 

Quality versus Quantity – Measuring Performance

We value innovation, creativity and problem-solving.  We recognize and reward problem-solving projects that are result oriented, built on our CBP pillars and focused on our goals.  We also monitor crime rates, clearance rates, and overall productivity.  But our emphasis is on the reduction of crime, the fear of crime and disorder – doing so in partnership with our community. 

We will seek out feedback from our community and assess our progress and effectiveness to ensure we are achieving our goals consistent with our mission.  Feedback to our department either directly to officers or staff, or via surveys will be used to measure our success in improving quality of life, reducing the fear of crime and disorder, and enhancing our relationships with the citizens we serve.

The transition to CBP began in late September.  With assignments made and expectations clear, it is time for us to complete our transition.  As the CBP initiative becomes a part of our department’s vision, mission, and “way of doing business” our program will evolve and change as necessary.  Remaining stagnant is dangerous and inhibits creativity and innovation.  I urge all of us to constantly critique this program and everything we do.  Take the time to make recommendations or suggestions about this program and other activities you are involved in daily.  We share in our success and share in our failures.  Together we can make this program a model for others to follow.