The Santa Cruz Police Department prides itself on focusing
on community-oriented policing (COPS). In fact, the Department of Justice has
awarded our agency funding based on our success in the COPS model. Within the
last few years we've initiated a requirement for new officers (as part of their
training program) to complete a community-based problem-solving project.
The Neighborhood Portfolio Exercise
(NPE) is an important tool to culminate and gauge the effectiveness of our
training program. The role of the police department has evolved over the
years requiring individuals who can engage critical thinking skills outside of
traditional “law enforcement” solutions into a “problem solving” approach.
This skill and operational philosophy is taught and emphasized throughout
the training program.
By completing an NPE, trainees
actually walk through the process of identifying core issues that lead to
problematic behaviors in the community. The trainee is then challenged to
identify critical resources and partnerships that can work collaboratively to
address the core issue. In doing so, the police department forges strong
relationships with the community and includes them in the problem solving for
long term solutions.
In the coming week we will present an NPE that a new officer just completed and presented to our staff. All NPEs were the idea of the new officer - and they work to complete them during the time of their training.
In the coming week we will present an NPE that a new officer just completed and presented to our staff. All NPEs were the idea of the new officer - and they work to complete them during the time of their training.
