Lakewood Police Department
Policy and Procedure
Community Oriented Problem Solving 		Effective Date: 09/10/18
Policy Number: PP-4102 - Community Oriented Problem Solving
    A. Policy

    The department must be responsive to the needs and problems of the community.  While the department's task is governed by law, the policies and procedures formulated to guide the enforcement of the law must include consideration of the public will.  This responsiveness must be established at all levels of the department by a willingness to listen and by a genuine concern for the problems of individuals or groups.  Employees will ensure that these problems and concerns, either from individuals or groups, are conveyed to the department.  The needs of the community must become an integral part of the programs designed to carry out the mission of the department.

    Community Oriented Problem Solving (COPS) is an approach to law enforcement that provides employees with the opportunity to expand their role in assisting the community to combat its problems.  Employees are in a unique position to identify situations that are worthy of attention, and they are given the responsibility to develop and implement solutions.  Mobilizing various segments within the community such as geographical areas, the business community, faith-based organizations, mental health, social services, and education to develop strategies directed toward identifying problems is a key concept in the successful implementation of community oriented problem solving.

    COPS is an interactive process between employees and the citizens who work or reside in the community to mutually develop ways to identify problems and concerns.  Working together, they assess viable solutions and provide valuable resources from both the police department and community to address the problems or concerns. This process includes publicizing department objectives, problems and successes alike to the community.  The purpose of COPS is to identify the underlying causes of recurring problems and to eliminate those causes.  One means to measure the competence of agency employees, officers’ attitudes toward citizens, community concerns, perceptions of crimes and recommendations for improvement of services is a citizen survey.  Conducted at two year intervals, the citizen survey is designed to measure the agencies performance and attitude with respect to the service it provides to the community.

    B. Procedure

    1. In order to better serve the community, department members who become aware of problems or potential problems that have bearing on law enforcement activities in the community will develop a course of action to resolve those concerns.

    2.     Employees are encouraged to utilize the following strategy in developing recommended actions addressing concerns and problems identified as requiring a department response.

    a.     Scanning:  Instead of relying only on broad, legal concepts (robbery and burglary for example), employees are encouraged to group individual, related incidents that come to their attention as "problems" and define problems in more precise and, therefore, useful terms.

    b.     Analysis:  Employees working on a well - defined "problem" then collect information from a variety of public and private sources - - not just police data.  They use the information to illuminate the underlying nature of the problem and suggest its causes and a variety of options for its resolution.

    c.     Response:  Working with citizens, businesses, and public and private agencies employees tailor a program of action suitable to the characteristics of the problem.  Solutions may go beyond traditional criminal justice system remedies to include other community agencies or organizations.

    d.     Assessment:  The employees evaluate the impact of these efforts to see if the problems were actually solved or alleviated.

    e.     Maintenance:  Periodic review of problem status and a statement of progress should be completed to determine if further action is necessary.

    3.     Employees conducting community projects will keep the Community Action Team (CAT) supervisor advised of concerns and issues.  The CAT supervisor will provide the chief of police a quarterly comprehensive written report of collaborative activities.  This report should be disseminated widely for informational purposes.
     

     

    NEXT: PP-4103 - Sector Liaison Unit