Independent Assessment of Police Department
Moving Forward with Reform
A troubled police department moves up the path toward reform and stronger community relationships.
The Problem
The local leaders knew the police department was in dire need of change and fresh perspective. Most importantly, they need a stronger and more effective approach to engaging the local communities. The leaders asked the police chief and his command team to work with our team of experts for several months to identify areas in need of improvements and to ensure the department was headed toward positive change.
The Solution
Our assessment and advisory team spent several weeks on the ground. Our four main objectives were to: 1. Institute a policing strategy to improve community engagement and sustain organizational change throughout the department 2. Improve training and use-of-force and citizen interactions policies 3. Improve the quality and transparency of deadly force investigations from the criminal and the administrative sides 4. Increase communication between the department and the community to build trust and stronger relationships
The Results
We collaborated with department representative to decrease citizen complaints; decrease use-of-force incidents; increase transparency of use-of-force investigations to build community trust; institutionalize community policing throughout the department policies, training, and operations; and improve communication with the community. Although it’s too early to measure the results, we successfully helped position the agency to achieve these goals.