Community Outreach

Sergeant Dave Henderson, VPD Corporal James Burgara, VPD

Officer Erik Jennings, VPD

Kim Kapp, VPD PIO

Trust Relationships

Transparency

Partnerships

Current Community Outreach

• Neighborhood Police Officers

• Chief’s Diversity Advisory Team (CDAT)

• Community Outreach Officers

• Social media

• Volunteer program

• Police Activities League

• School Resource Officers

• Better service to the communities we serve

• Support from community leaders

• Informs the public about what do we do

• Removes the “we know what’s best for you” mindset

• Find out what the community cares about

• Allows for two-way communication

• It builds trust, both ways

Advantages of Community Outreach

Community Survey

• In 2012: • 55% of respondents were Satisfied or Very

Satisfied with “Police Building Relationships”.

• In 2014: • 40% of respondents Satisfied or Very Satisfied

with “Police Building Relationships”. • In 2014:

• 78% of respondents rated “Police Building Relationships” as Important or Very Important.

Challenges of Community Outreach

• Requires ongoing, consistent commitment of resources and dedicated coordination

• Maximizing/increasing reach

• Can be difficult to measure results

• Not everyone will think it’s beneficial

• Perception becomes reality

• The media defines the agency

• Public distrust

• Lack of understanding

• Lack of public support

What happens without community outreach?

History of VPD Community Outreach

1995 2000 2005 2010

1997

Annexation:

Civilian community policing specialists

hired

2008:

Neighborhood Police Officer

(NPO) positions created

2005 2010 2015 2020

2010:

Recession hits. 40% of civilian

staff laid off, incl. ALL community

policing specialists

History of VPD Community Outreach

Community Outreach Gaps

Pro-active outreach programs eliminated

Youth

fingerprinting Bicycle

rodeos

Neighborhood

watch

Apartment

manager

outreach

ESL class

outreach for

VPD 101

Crime

prevention

education

Child car seat

clinics

Community Outreach Gaps

3,268 child car seats

checked for

safety in

2005-2007

NOW: 0

4,008 bicycle helmets

given to

children in

2005-2009

NOW: 0

$159,127 average annual

budget for crime

prevention &

safety education

in 2006-2008

NOW: $0

• Additional staffing would provide:

• Increased opportunity to enhance community outreach efforts.

• Increased opportunities to implement crime prevention efforts or programs to include a focus on multi-housing programs for those high calls for service locations.

• Push community outreach duties to all levels in the organization

Options for the future

Questions?

www.vanpolice.org