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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 3:24 am
Time: 3:24 am
Results for community policing (lemont, illinois, u.s.)
1 results foundAuthor: Hillard Heintze Title: A Key Platform for Transformation: Advancing the Lemont Police Department's Effectiveness and Efficiency Through Community-Focused Policing Summary: Strategic Context: At the center of every world-class policing agency’s reputation and success – regardless of size – is a strong, commendable and often collaborative relationship with the community at many different levels. This is the threshold that the Lemont Police Department stands upon today – the strategic opportunity to improve the integrity, operations and reputation of the Department and help shape it, now and over time, into a national example of a true community-focused policing agency committed to public service and professional excellence. Assignment: In January 2011, the Lemont Police Department requested that Hillard Heintze assess the Department’s current operations and make recommendations on the best opportunities to improve its performance and delivery of service to the Lemont community in a highly cost-efficient manner. Hillard Heintze was asked to give special attention to strategies that would help the Department meet its mission in financially challenging times and engage cost-effective methods to maximize and improve the services provided to Lemont residents through community-focused policing. A Key Definition: What exactly is community-focused policing? Hillard Heintze uses this term to describe a compelling blend of (1) traditional policing, (2) problem-oriented policing and (3) community-oriented policing (or community policing). This is a crucial concept. We believe, in effect, that by embracing community-focused policing, the Lemont Police Department can launch a full-scale, sustainable, long-term transformation. Actions Taken: In short, the Hillard Heintze team conducted a strategic and comprehensive evaluation of the Department to identify high performing functions as well as areas that could be improved to transform the Lemont Police Department into a best-in-class model of a modern, suburban police department. This involved a six-step process outlined in the Introduction. Scope of Assessment: The study examined critical elements of Department management and operations, including strategy, accountability, communications, community-oriented policing and problem solving, patrol staffing and deployment, investigations, administration and the Lemont Emergency Management Agency (LEMA). Key Findings: As a result of this assessment, we have drawn six key findings. 1. Current Staffing Levels: The Lemont Police Department is staffed adequately to ensure a professional response to calls for service and major incidents while providing a safe and productive work environment for their officers. 2. Availability of Officers to Focus on the Community: The Village of Lemont’s low rate of calls for service allows sufficient discretionary time for officers to respond to citizen-generated calls for service and engage in a robust community-policing program. 3. Deficiencies in the Department’s Structure: The Department’s current structure is not well suited to a community-based approach to service delivery. With such low levels of crime in Lemont, the Department’s structure should be patrol focused with a stronger alignment of supervision, investigations and specialty positions to the visible uniform functions. 4. The Need to Shift the Community Focus from Project-Based to Strategy-Driven: While the Department has adopted a community-focused approach and has several successful programs such as neighborhood watch, the citizens’ police academy and school resource officers, its implementation relies heavily on only a few members of the Department. The Department needs to transform this approach from merely project-based to strategy-driven. 5. The Crucial Importance of Developing a Strategic Plan: The Department does not have a strategic plan or a clearly defined strategy for policing in place. It needs to establish a longterm strategic plan and a more data-driven approach to resource deployment that is developed with substantial community input. 6. Internal Communications and Personnel Development: The Department is lacking in a consistent message on strategy, communications, accountability and goal setting, much of which can be solved through the creation of a strategic plan and performance measurement program and improved communications. Recommendations: Key findings have emerged from this endeavor and our collective experience in leading, assessing and advising police agencies across the U.S. and in select international locations. The Hillard Heintze team has compiled a list of 24 actionable recommendations for the Lemont Police Department which are organized into six categories, including Patrol, Investigations, Administration, Strategic Planning, Communications and Organizational Structure. Final Considerations and Next Steps: We view the Lemont Police Department as confronting three critical challenges: the need to improve communications, involve the community and plan strategically. We suggest that the first step be to invite employees, members of the public and the business community to come together and begin a dialogue on these recommendations. This dialogue should determine the pathway that will determine how the Department is to evolve into a high performing agency. In order for this to unfold, the Police Chief, along with the Village Manager must lead, mentor and champion both the immediate and long-term value of a community-focused strategic planning initiative and lead the organization into a transformation that embraces a strategy-driven approach to decision making and thinking at every level. Details: Chicago: Hillard Heintze, 2011. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2013 at: http://www.alexanderweissconsulting.com/pdf/Lemont.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.alexanderweissconsulting.com/pdf/Lemont.pdf Shelf Number: 128268 Keywords: Community Policing (Lemont, Illinois, U.S.)Police AdministrationPolice ReformPolice-Community RelationsProblem-Oriented Policing |