Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 06-14-11 regular — reading text

statements that serve to incorporate both what the public views as important and the need to provide department employees with direction and priorities each year. Such annual goals should be assessed at the end of each year to help the Destin Police Department continuously improve its efforts to keep m the community safe and secure. 0 Na PERF recommends that a Destin police department develop its " Rules and Regulations Manual' by beginning with one from a similar sized Florida police department that is 00V_N accredited both nationally and by the State of Florida. The manual then needs to be N revised to incorporate the philosophy, practices and procedures of the department. High liability policies and procedures related to use of force, pursuits, .handling of MM prisoners, and property control should receive the highest priority for attention. Other policies should be grouped by type and topic and then reviewed in order of importance determined by department needs. Comprehensive organization of the policies will facilitate rapid access by employees and differentiate between directives, employee rules and regulations and general policies. Patrol Activities / Community Oriented Policing Program If Destin forms its own police department, the department should adopt a community oriented policing ( COP) approach. As a fundamental effort, the department should establish and maintain a collaborative problem -solving relationship with the community. The department should establish specific goals that are designed to support and enhance a COP program. As officers are recruited, they should demonstrate a commitment to the fundamental philosophy and goals of community policing. Page 25 PaGcet Pg. 1 T2  74.3. e Community policing oriented goals will help focus the efforts of officers, especially within specific assigned geographic areas. They can provide guidance for increasing officer /citizen interactions and resolving non- criminal problems which citizens encounter. Goals can be general ( ".. get to know people and businesses in your area ") or more specific (" .. walk foot patrol twice a shift "; "do two crime prevention programs a month "). Traffic Enforcement aONC A Destin police department would need to devote considerable time and attention to v traffic and traffic safety. An early task for the new Chief should be the development of a plan for traffic safety and management program. Speeding issues during wintertime o N and volume and congestion in the summer months need to be addressed in order for zm the police department to be regarded as responding to public concerns. The y department should provide periodic reports, perhaps monthly, to city officials that show the department' s level of traffic management effort correlated with the results such effort is designed to achieve. Criminal Investigations A Destin Police Department should have one investigator position. The detective should review all reports of criminal activity submitted by patrol officers and conduct investigations of those deemed to have a high solvability score. Some investigations may be referred to senior patrol officers, if it appears that they have sufficient time to conduct follow -up. The chief should institute managerial processes that will allow a periodic audit on case status and the detective' s work activities. The chief should help the investigator establish case investigation priorities and determine targets for the i maximum number of cases undergoing active investigation at any one time, to prevent overloading the detective. Page 27 Packet Pg. 173  14. 3. e Crime /Problem Analysis A Destin police department should create a crime and problem analysis function at the outset. The purpose of this function is to provide information about crime and disorder problems on a timely basis to help guide how patrol officers spend the time they are not responding to calls for service. Multiple calls to the same motel in a short time period may indicate a motel management problem. Locations of persistent traffic problems and violations may indicate a need for focused patrol. Also, such a system should include information about criminal activity including method of crime, time, date, location, suspect, vehicle or other types of information that should routinely be captured in offense reports. This type of information will help link multiple crimes to a single offender, or group of offenders. There are several ways a crime /problem analysis problem function can be staffed in a small department. The function could be assigned as part of the duties of the administrative clerk, or, perhaps, to the relief sergeant, since this position would not have the performance appraisal duties that the squad sergeants have. Volunteers might be used, under the supervison of the relief sergeant. A volunteer program, when properly managed, offers the department the opportunity to expand its operation in other areas, also. Volunteers could provide valuable assistance in the areas of crime prevention, and could be trained to deliver a variety of crime prevention programs. Some of the duties the volunteers could perform would include vacation house watch, non -enforcement patrol, assisting officers with their community policing projects, fingerprinting for non -criminal purposes, clerical support, and traffic direction. Page 2a Packet P9. 174  F143. Education and Training Destin officers will need training from both internal and external sources. Department management should identify annually training priorities. Training should cover both ongoing reinforcement of fundamental practices as well as professional development topics. Officers need training to keep up with changing law enforcement procedures, techniques, philosophies, legal mandates and court decisions. On -going training needs include: civil liability issues, overcoming performance deficiencies, ethical behavior, and review in the areas of deadly force and vehicle pursuits. The use of firearms, defensive tactics, and driving are key skills that need continual updating. Officers should be receiving continuing updates on key court findings that affect their daily decision making. The department should undertake specific career development activities for officers and supervisors. Each supervisor should conduct annual meetings with individual subordinates to discuss current weaknesses that could be addressed in training as well as assisting the employee with identifying and preparing to meet future goals. Citizen Complaints / Procedural Questions An early task for a Destin Police Department is to establish procedures for handling both formal and informal citizen complaints. The department should make the process for submitting complaints readily available to the public. Many police departments have created brochures which outline the complaint process and identify the steps and timetable which will be followed in the processing of the complaint. The department' s complaint taking process should include not only formal but also Page 29 Packet P9. 175  14. 3. e I informal complaints. Tracking both major and minor citizens' concerns about officer behavior will help to identify patterns of problem behavior among officers early enough so that the department can intervene before the problem becomes severe. Inventory, Evidence and Property Storage Another critical early task is to create procedures to manage evidence and property including recovered, seized and evidentiary property and abandoned, lost and found property. Sound procedures are important to supporting investigations, guaranteeing successful prosecutions and ensuring timely return of property to the rightful owner. The Destin police facility should include a purpose -built evidence and property storage room and a ventilated " Hazmat" area for storing combustibles, fireworks and other unstable materials. While open shelving is used for most items, the evidence area should also have a small safe for narcotics and currency over $ 100. Administrative logs must be kept for items such as currency, narcotics, weapons, etc. The department should develop and implement a full -scope policy on evidence /property management that provides effective guidance to all department employees on the collection, retention and clearance of collected materials. The department should institute effective restrictions on access to the secured portion of the evidence /property room. By using a combination of physical controls and adequate record keeping, the department should ensure that all employees with access keys can account for trips into the secure room. The department should develop formal procedures for conducting frequent and random internal audits of the records and materials located in the evidence /property room. While focusing on the integrity of the evidence /property room, the policy may want to Page 30 1 Packet Pg. 176  F-143. include random testing of the controlled substances and money counts of available currency. Procedurally, the department should have a single key available for use by sergeants or other supervisors. Access to the key could be controlled / monitored in order to preserve the integrity of the evidence area. If the key' s use is monitored through a checkout process, there will be a record of entrance and exit to the controlled space.