Agenda - Council - 05/09/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I i I I I I I I I I I I I I CASE RAMSEY BOLICE TO FORMALIZE COMMUNITY POLICING CONCEPT ~ By: Mike Auspos, Police Chief Backgroundi The Ramsey City Council is requested to formally introduce Community Policing within the City. Th{~ "formal" term comes because the basic philosophy of the department has been, since th~ Police Department began in 1971, to work closely with the citizens and encourage th~ officers to become involved beyond simple report taking. The concept of doing the woJk of law enforcement and public safety in close personal contact with the citizens is not h new one but, during the "suburbanizing" of America, much of it was lost to mobile patroL! What Ramsey plans is to create a modern version of a "beat cop" equipped with the advantages of modern technology and freed, as much as possible, from rigid traditionalism.: Six officers have volunteered to be assigned an area within the City of Ramsey for which they will ha~e responsibility, thereby creating six "communities" within the larger community o~ Rarnsey. While those six officers will not be assigned specific patrol and call-answerinl~ functions within-their areas and will continue to work normal City-wide patrol shifts, ~ey will, by using innovation and technology, become closely involved in their particula~ community. Reports of incidents occurring in their area, whether those reports come }from citizen complaints, other officer initiated incidents, or "grapevine" activities, willl become the responsibility of the Community Officer for follow-up in many instances. ; Since the Con~munity Officer will also be working a normal patrol shift City-wide, he or she will take a~:lvantage of cellular phones, currently installed in all Ramsey Patrol units, to allow prioritizing of calls. That is, if the officer is talking with some youths about a problem in th6, neighborhood and is building a good rapport, a radio call of a dog problem or other non-l~riority request for service can be handled over the phone and that youth contact can b~ maintained. A request for extra patrol in a specific area due to constant speeding may 9ery well be taken care of more efficiently by the Community Officer than by another patrog officer in that the C.O. may know the offender(s) and can address them directly. The primary Objective of Ramsey's Community Policing is to promote public safety, thereby makiqg Ramsey a fmc community in which to live. If dedicated officers using innovation, self-motivation, and technology can also be more efficient, then perhaps the citizens as tax bayers will also benefit. As the concept progresses, it will be monitored and examined by administrators, officers, and citizens together. If it proves to be working well, then either other officers will pair up with the existing Community Officers or the geographic size will be reduced by individual assignments. To facilitate tb~js community policing concept, the City of Ramsey has approved the hiring of another officer in September 1995, under the Federal COPS-FAST Grant Program which will fun~ up to $75,000 of salary over a three-year period. Personnel COmmittee Action: Based upon discussion. Reviewed bY: Police Chief ~ City Administrator Personnel: !05/09/95