Community Policing in Northeast Louisiana: Governance & Implementation

1. Community Policing in Northeast Louisiana: Governance & Implementation Robert D. Hanser University of Louisiana at Monroe

2. The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) • A sub office of the United States Department of Justice. • Is a recognized authority on community policing issues in the United States. • The use of federal government documents.

3. Community Policing Defined (COPS, 2009, p. 2). • Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.

4. Progressive Stages of Community Policing

5. Three Key Aspects of Presentation • Training at the academy level and in-service training. • The inclusion of community partnerships. • The use of SARA in crime prevention and intervention applications specific to gang-related activity in Northeast Louisiana.

6. Academy Level and In-Service Training • North Delta Regional Training Academy (Services 9 Parishes, 3 Cities, and 1 Private Prison System in the State of Louisiana) • Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement’s (LCLE) • Police Officer Standards and Training (POST)

7. Governance of Academy Training in Northeast Louisiana • Is governed by an Advisory Board. • Members of the Advisory Board. • This is a very unique governance system. • This governance system is the only one of its kind in the entire state of Louisiana.

8. Delivery of Training on Community Policing • Who oversees the training? • How is it made relevant to cadets? • Support from the agencies; representatives. • Top-down support from administrators.

9. The Inclusion of Community Partnerships • Other governmental agencies • Community members and/or groups • Nonprofit/service providers • Private businesses • The media

10. Governmental Agencies • Office of Probation and Parole • Local School Systems • The School Resource Officer

11. Community Members and/or Groups • Neighborhood Watch, is intended to bring citizens together to: 1) Make their own homes and families less inviting targets for crime, and 2) Cooperate with law enforcement through block and neighborhood groups to control crime throughout the community.

12. Community Members and/or Groups • National Night Out: hosting a “block party” that consists of cookouts, dances, parades, and a variety of activities designed to foster community connectedness. • Citizen’s Police Academy: Educate citizens on how and why local police operate as they do.

13. Non-Profit Service Providers • Family Justice Center(FJC) • Ouachita Parish Domestic Violence Community Response Manual • ULM faculty, including Dr. Hanser, have been contributors to this manual.

14. Private Businesses and Private Residences • Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office(OPSO) • Code Enforcement Division of OPSO. • In 2008, 592 of the 729 citations issued were resolved before being taken to environmental court, a compliance rate of 81 percent compared to the 73 percent compliance rate in 2007.

15. Private Businesses and Private Residences • Broken Windows Theory • City of Monroe Housing Authority • City of Monroe Comprehensive Plan

16. The Media • Local Newspapers and Television Stations. • Media support of police-community relations. • Month of October, the United States observed both National Crime Prevention Month and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

17. SARA Applications in Gang-Related Activity • Scanning • Analysis • Response • Assessment

18. Scanning • Faith-based organizations • Institute of Law Enforcement • Local media and “taggers.” • Aryan Circle and Bastrop City Police Department.

19. Analysis • National Gang Crime Research Center • Data collection at Caddo Parish Correctional Facility and Richwood Correctional Center. • ULM faculty involvement in grant-writing projects, mentoring programs, school-based anti-gang program.

20. Response • Metro Narcotics • Outreach programs • Reentry initiatives

21. Assessment • Decker (2008) notes that an assessment is a five-step process that includes: 1. Determine whether the plan was implemented (a process evaluation). 2. Collect pre- and post-response qualitative and quantitative data because a response that does not change the level of gang crime could hardly be called successful.

22. Assessment (continued) 3. Determine whether broad goals and specific objectives were reached by comparing the baseline of information developed before the response was implemented with the results of the program. 4. Identify new strategies needed to augment the original plan. 5. Conduct an ongoing assessment to ensure continued effectiveness. The program is not a one-time exercise.

23. Assessment and Evaluation • The Department of Criminal Justice has begun the construction of a community-based survey related to community perceptions of gang violence. • Determining measures and collecting data. • Refining current responses to gang-related criminal activity in the Northeast Louisiana region.

24. Conclusion • Governance of community policing standards is a bit fragmented. • Community policing is nevertheless and institutionalized process in the region. • Evidence of Implementation.

25. References • Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (2009). Community policing defined. Washington, DC: United States Department of Justice. • All other sources included in manuscript presented to the Community Policing Governance Center of the Taiwan Police College by Dr. Robert D. Hanser.