Workshop Schedule

Contemporary Issues in Community Policing

• Moving to the Next Level: Community Oriented Government
• Making Community Policing Work Through Organizational Change
• We Want You: Volunteers in Police Service
• Mobilizing Residents and Community Agencies to Address Problems Related to Crime, Violence, and Domestic Terrorism
• Law Enforcement & Society: Lessons of the Holocaust
• The Future of Community Policing

Moving to the Next Level: Community Oriented Government

Monday, June 16 (10:30 a.m. – noon) 

Moderator: 

Mr. Michael Carey, Lead Grant Monitoring Specialist, COPS Office

Presenters:

Lieutenant Mike Wells, Concord (CA) Police Department
Mr. Greg Jones, Assistant City Manager, City of Concord (CA)
Officer Matt Montesano, Albany (NY) Police Department
Officer Kelly Kimbrough, City of Albany (NY) Police Department
Ms. Valerie Scott, Division Supervisor, City of Albany (NY) Department of Building and Codes

Community leaders across the nation have come to realize that public safety concerns are best addressed holistically. Instead of placing the burden on individual departments and agencies, communities are now sharing the responsibilities through interagency collaborations. Delivery of services to the community at large and to specific target populations is the responsibility of the entire government entity. Law enforcement agencies have taken a lead role in the development of interagency collaborations. Public safety needs are now frequently addressed through partnerships and problem-solving models that incorporate a community oriented government approach. Representatives from the City of Concord and the City of Albany will share their experiences and demonstrate how city governments can become valuable partners in problem-solving efforts designed to address quality-of-life issues. This panel will provide useful information to all members of the law enforcement community, municipal and county government employees, and civic leaders.

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Making Community Policing Work Through Organizational Change

Monday, June 16 (2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.) 

Moderator: 

Sandra Webb, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst, COPS Office

Presenters:

Chief Sid Klein, Clearwater (FL) Police Department
Chief John Kruithoff, Holland (MI) Police Department
Captain Merle Switzer, Sacramento (CA) Sheriff’s Department

The culture of each law enforcement agency and the community it serves provides a unique lens through which to view the implementation of community policing. This workshop will examine how three agencies successfully responded to the demands of their communities with organizational changes in the late 1990s. The Clearwater Police Department used community partnerships to implement the Clearwater Homeless Intervention Project (C.H.I.P.) and “Operation Apoyo Hispano.” Both programs used live, interactive television programming to promote the evolution of community policing. In Holland, Michigan, successful integration of police officers into the fabric of the community in 1995 to solve gang-related problems caused citizens to demand a return to the practice when gang-related arsons threatened neighborhoods again in 1999. The police chief and the city manager created a citizens’ committee to use problem-solving techniques to address the issues of officer use and assignment, fear of crime, and the police service delivery system. The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department began developing a blueprint for the future by conducting focus groups, surveys, and interviews in 1998. Sixty recommendations were developed and implemented resulting in a shift in departmental philosophy and the decentralization of field staff serving identifiable communities and emphasizing community partnerships. This session will be of interest to law enforcement, local government leaders, and community members who need proven methods to address specific community needs and crime and quality-of-life issues while working in partnership with the community.

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We Want You: Volunteers in Police Service

Monday, June 16 (3:45-5:00)

Moderator: 

Nancy Kolb, International Association of Chiefs of Police

Presenters:

Al Jones, curriculum specialist, Tri-State (Ohio) Regional Community Policing Institute
Richard Coberg, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of the Oklahoma Regional Community Policing Institute, and Professor of Human Relations, University of Oklahoma.
Captain Stephen W. Smith, Tulsa (OK) Police Department assigned to the Oklahoma RCPI as the Director of Programming
President Sue DuCharme, Council of Neighborhoods, Oklahoma City, OK

During his State of the Union address in 2002, President George W. Bush called upon every American to get involved in strengthening America’s communities.  The President created the USA Freedom Corps to help Americans answer his call. One of the Citizen Corps programs is the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. The goal of the VIPS program is to provide support for resource-constrained local law enforcement agencies by tapping civilian volunteers to supplement their communities law enforcement personnel resources. This panel will provide an overview of the VIPS training developed by and offered through the COPS Office nationwide network of Regional Community Policing Institutes.  The presentation will stress the VIPS program as a means to facilitate the individual service opportunities to support and/or release law enforcement officers for increased community policing and homeland security activities. The presentation will review the Presidential mandate to increase individual volunteer service within communities and share positive strategies to effect such volunteer service within a community policing and homeland security context. Focus will be given to the conscious effort and planning required by law enforcement to open opportunities for volunteer service; the type of service that can be expected; the management of such service; and the sustainability and funding of such service. Practical implementation and community partnerships for all ages will also be discussed.

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Mobilizing Residents and Community Agencies to Address Problems Related to Crime, Violence, and Domestic Terrorism

Tuesday, June 17 (10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.)

Moderator: 

Ms. Amy Schapiro, Senior Social Science Analyst, COPS Office

Presenters:

Director Robert Coates, National Training Center for Crime Prevention and Community Leadership
Director Edward Krueger, Criminal Justice Center for Grants and Contracts, Fox Valley Technical College

This workshop will provide participants with information they need to engage law enforcement and the community it serves into successful processes to create a secure environment. Discussion will address successful strategies to encourage mobilization as part of the community policing philosophy. The session will focus on ideas for working with community leaders and their organizations to resolve issues of concern. Resource materials will be provided for participants to augment the presentation. At the conclusion of the sessions, participants will be able to explain a successful process to engage community and law enforcement leadership to resolve problems, describe a strategic planning process for dealing with domestic terrorism, explain a process to identify community issues, and be able to develop community or agency strategic issue planning process.

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Law Enforcement & Society: Lessons of the Holocaust

Tuesday, June 17 (2:00p.m. – 3:15p.m.)

Moderator: 

Mr. Ken Howard, Senior Policy Analyst, COPS Office

Presenters:

Director Lynn Williams, Community Partnerships and Education, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
William Meinecke, Ph.D., Community Partnerships and Education, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Associate Director Kayle Becker, Law Enforcement Outreach, Anti-Defamation League

This workshop will provide attendees with an overview of the Law Enforcement & Society: Lessons of the Holocaust program currently being offered to Washington, D.C.-area law enforcement. This is a partnership between the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Museum) and the Washington, DC office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). It provides law enforcement practitioners and community members with a history of the Holocaust, and provides an important opportunity to examine how Nazi ideology impacted the police in 1930’s Germany. Workshop attendees will see how by examining the Holocaust, law enforcement professionals gain a perspective on their critical and unique role in society, as well as a deeper understanding of their responsibility to protect all citizens. Begun in 1999 with a Museum visit by Chief Charles Ramsey of the Metropolitan (DC) Police Department, the Museum and ADL have trained over 10,000 federal and local law enforcement professionals from the metropolitan area. This panel will be of value to line officers, command staff, and community leaders as they examine history and compare these experiences with contemporary community policing and the community’s concern for safety.

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The Future of Community Policing

Tuesday, June 17 (3:45 p.m. - 5 p.m.)

Moderator: 

Ms. Lorie Fridell, Director of Research, Police Executive Research Forum

Presenters:

Prof. Gary Cordner, Dean, College of Justice and Safety, Eastern Kentucky University
Ms. Ellen Scrivner, Ph. D., Law Enforcement Consultant
Ms. Nancy McPherson, Director of Services, Portland (OR) Police Bureau

There has been tremendous speculation about the future of community policing. In light of the challenges facing policing professionals, can community policing flourish in agencies that are still in the early stages of implementation and sustained in agencies that have demonstrated their commitment to community policing? And what is the impact of the new terrorist threat on the future of community policing? Academic and practitioner presenters will share information on how community policing is being implemented nationwide by reviewing a decade of survey data from a panel of agencies that self-identify as community policing agencies. Additionally, panelists will discuss the future prospects of and challenges to community policing addressing such topics as the nation’s focus on antiterrorist activities, organizational change, performance measurement, union issues, and true partnerships with citizens.

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