Applicant
Information|
Communications |
Community Oriented
Policing | D.A.R.E.
Domestic Violence
Response | Explorers |
Mission
Statement | Neighborhood
Watch
Phone Numbers |
Profile of LHCPD |
Programs for Seniors|
Frequently Asked Questions
PD Job
Opportunities |
LHCPD in Action
Lake Havasu City as well
as other cities and counties across the nation have turned to
community policing. Community policing is a strategy that builds
on fundamental policing practices with an emphasis on crime
prevention and lasting solutions to problems. It requires new
resolve from citizens and new thinking from police officers.
Community policing
not only reduces crime and fear while restoring a sense of order
but it
also can rebuild the bond between citizens and government. Lake
Havasu City police officers, as public servants who interact
with citizens on a daily basis, have a unique opportunity to
demonstrate the importance of citizen involvement in the
community. In turn, they realize that their authority and
effectiveness are linked directly to the support they receive
from citizens. When fully embraced, community policing is
democracy at its best.
Lake
Havasu City Community Oriented Policing - A Four-Tiered Approach
Community oriented
policing is proactive, solution-based, and community driven. It
occurs when a law enforcement agency and law abiding citizens
work together to do four things:
Arrest Offenders There
is nothing "soft on crime" about community policing. Ensuring a
safe environment is dangerous and arduous work for the men and
women of American law enforcement. Community policing is
pro-active law enforcement, where officers arrest those who harm
others or steal their property. This serious responsibility can
best be accomplished when police officers have the support of
their communities. Community policing creates an environment
where true partnerships between the community and law
enforcement can thrive. It creates safe environments where
neighborhoods can prosper.
The Future
Community oriented
policing stimulates creative solutions to crime problems -
solutions that begin in neighborhoods. When we invest in
community policing, we see officers and citizens depending on
one another to make neighborhoods safer. For maximum
effectiveness, community policing must permeate every aspect of
a department - recruiting, hiring, training, assignment and
promotion - reflecting a true community policing focus. The
natural course of community oriented policing will lead us to
community oriented government. Law enforcement is becoming the
critical link as police departments bring together government
agencies, neighborhood associations, business communities, and
value-based organizations to ensure safe and productive
neighborhoods.
Prevent Crime
Crime prevention has two
major components. The first is a combined effort in traditional
prevention areas of proactive police-community programs and
personal safety awareness. Traditional prevention efforts
include exterior lighting, dead bolts on doors and windows, and
walking with an escort at night.
The second essential
area is understanding that our children make important life
decisions whether to get involved with drugs or not, whether to
obey the law or not - by the time they are ten years old. Giving
children the tools they need to make important life decisions is
good crime prevention. Poor decisions and involvement in
criminal activity are costly choices - costly to our children
and costly to taxpayers as we arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate
offenders.
Solve
Ongoing Problems
Working together to
solve ongoing problems means police and citizens partnering to
implement strategies that provide long term solutions. Problems
can best be eliminated when the community and government
coordinate and cooperate. For example, police may be called
repeatedly to a boarded-up house to arrest trespassers. With
interagency cooperation, that house could be rehabilitated and
turned into a home that local residents are proud to have in
their neighborhood.
Improve the Overall Quality of Life
Police strategies are
evolving. Instead of concentrating exclusively on enforcement,
today's police officers are improving the quality of life in our
neighborhoods. Community policing officers not only stabilize
neighborhoods, but mobilize and motivate citizen participation
in programs such as Neighborhood Watch and neighborhood
clean-ups. Lake Havasu City's men and women in law enforcement
are good facilitators and problem solvers - they make things
happen. Using their community oriented policing skills, officers
become essential building blocks in community oriented
government.
Hiring in the Spirit of Service
The Lake Havasu City
Police Department's most valuable asset is its officers.
Progressive departments such as ours "hire in the spirit of
service, not the spirit of adventure." How officers treat
citizens in their own neighborhood will dictate citizens'
perceptions and support of their police department. Officers
hired in the spirit of service and trained in community policing
are transforming policing in Lake Havasu City and across
America.
Back to top
