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Independence, MO —
New programs aren’t just being put into place within the Independence Police Department.
The department’s entire philosophy and process is changing.
“Programs end. Processes don’t,” Police Chief Tom Dailey said in an interview Monday.
Back in December, Dailey had unveiled a strategic policing plan that focused on accessibility and visibility to the Police Department. The concepts within that plan didn’t end, Dailey said, when voters rejected the police tax in April.
“Just because the tax didn’t pass... Well, what that meant is that we don’t have any way to staff what we wanted to do,” Dailey said, “but we started, before the tax, trying to explore ways to implement this policing plan with the resources we had. We’re able to do that on a very limited basis right now, but at least we’ll have the structure in place so when we get more officers – and I have every confidence at some point we will – we’ll have the process in place.
“Once (the election) was over, the next day, we continued down our path. That is ancient history.”
Different components of the policing plan are already being implemented. In restructuring the Criminal Investigations Division, strategic policing works, in that detectives are familiar with problems within each of the four quadrants of the city, Dailey said. When the strategic policing plan was introduced, the department wanted to include a liaison officer in each of the four areas of command.
“We don’t have the people to do that right now,” Dailey said, “but what we have done is divided the city in half with Officer (John) Syme and Officer (Billy) Pope and tried to start building the structure of them working with groups that are having specific police problems.”
With the two community service officers in Englewood, the city is divided into two, with Pope responsible for the area north of 23rd Street and Syme responsible for the area south of 23rd Street.
Citizens can contact Syme at 816-325-7643 or Pope at 816-325-7645. The city’s website, www.indepmo.org, also has an action center where citizens can request police service or can ask questions about incidents.
“This is just a stepping stone,” Syme said. “We’re doing what we can with what we have at the time.”
The Independence Police Department’s goals, Dailey said, remain the same: Officials are working to reduce response times by reducing the calls for service, while still lowering crime and disorder across Independence and allowing officers more time to identify developing crime trends.
New programs aren’t just being put into place within the Independence Police Department.
The department’s entire philosophy and process is changing.
“Programs end. Processes don’t,” Police Chief Tom Dailey said in an interview Monday.
Back in December, Dailey had unveiled a strategic policing plan that focused on accessibility and visibility to the Police Department. The concepts within that plan didn’t end, Dailey said, when voters rejected the police tax in April.
“Just because the tax didn’t pass... Well, what that meant is that we don’t have any way to staff what we wanted to do,” Dailey said, “but we started, before the tax, trying to explore ways to implement this policing plan with the resources we had. We’re able to do that on a very limited basis right now, but at least we’ll have the structure in place so when we get more officers – and I have every confidence at some point we will – we’ll have the process in place.
“Once (the election) was over, the next day, we continued down our path. That is ancient history.”
Different components of the policing plan are already being implemented. In restructuring the Criminal Investigations Division, strategic policing works, in that detectives are familiar with problems within each of the four quadrants of the city, Dailey said. When the strategic policing plan was introduced, the department wanted to include a liaison officer in each of the four areas of command.
“We don’t have the people to do that right now,” Dailey said, “but what we have done is divided the city in half with Officer (John) Syme and Officer (Billy) Pope and tried to start building the structure of them working with groups that are having specific police problems.”
With the two community service officers in Englewood, the city is divided into two, with Pope responsible for the area north of 23rd Street and Syme responsible for the area south of 23rd Street.
Citizens can contact Syme at 816-325-7643 or Pope at 816-325-7645. The city’s website, www.indepmo.org, also has an action center where citizens can request police service or can ask questions about incidents.
“This is just a stepping stone,” Syme said. “We’re doing what we can with what we have at the time.”
The Independence Police Department’s goals, Dailey said, remain the same: Officials are working to reduce response times by reducing the calls for service, while still lowering crime and disorder across Independence and allowing officers more time to identify developing crime trends.
“The way you do that, hopefully, is by giving people better access to the police department,” Dailey said.
Capt. Ed Turner of the Criminal Investigations Division described the strategic policing as “team-building with the community,” allowing the department to respond more quickly to issues, thanks to partnerships within the community and intelligence-led policing.
“We let the community know that they are a vital part of this operation,” he said. “They are, technically, our eyes and ears, and when they call to us, we need to be responsive. The best way for us to be responsive to that is to have people who are attentive to the needs, who have a pulse on the problems of the day.”
Citizens who think that their life or property may be in immediate danger should still dial 911, police officials say. However, if a past property offense, such as a vehicle being broken into, has occurred, residents are encouraged to contact the department through a non-emergency resource, such as the action center or contacting Syme or Pope.
A station officer also will handle calls for service through dispatch, referred from dispatch as non-life threatening calls, plus walk-in problems, “so people could come to the station as opposed to dialing 911,” Dailey said. That concept is now using injured officers who are on “light duty.”
“We can’t sustain it yet and we can’t put a lot of structure into it ... but thus far, it’s been tremendously effective. The guys who have done that have all been overwhelmed with contact with the public.”
On a smaller scale, Syme said, strategic policing has been accomplished through the grant-funded weed and seed initiative since 2007 throughout western Independence. That officially ended in May because of the end of the five-year grant, but strategic policing and community partnerships are continuing to take place, Syme said, including with the 353 tax abatement program, the Independence Plan for Neighborhood Councils and the NorthWest Communities Development Corporation.
“We do realize that crime is a community problem,” Syme said. “It’s a responsibility that kind of has to be shared by both the police department and the citizens. I’m not saying it’s not our job to do it, but it’s going to be much more effective if we have the community on our side.”
