The troubled Ashland, Ore., Police Department is “reactive” to crime and needs to shift into a “community policing” model that is proactive and emphasizes dialog, goal-setting and task forces involving townsfolk, reports the Medford Mail Tribune. Those are among the findings of a seven-month, $60,000 study of the department submitted Thursday by Police Executive Research Forum of Washington, D.C.
The report was released as the city prepared for the departure of Police Chief Mike Bianca, a proponent of the community policing approach who was the subject of a no-confidence vote by his staff and the police union last year. The PERF report sided with Bianca’s view of law enforcement strategy, which some have denegrated as “hug and release.” Among its recommendations: form a community-police task force to define APD's mission, values and vision; clarify lines of authority; give patrol officers their own territory so they establish communication and trust with neighborhoods, and recruit and promote based on character, community skills and problem-solving abilities.
Link: http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0409/local/stories/02local.htm