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POLICE ADOPT FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN
The first line of the formal Mission Statement of the Stamford Police Department reads: “The primary mission of the Stamford Police Department is to provide the highest quality law enforcement services to our community.” Without question, the single most important component of this endeavor is to safeguard the public. If one studies the history of crime in Stamford, it becomes readily apparent that the Police Department is achieving this goal. A case in point is the fact that the FBI has ranked Stamford among the top eleven safest cities in the nation for six consecutive years. In addition, when serious crimes do occur, our Crimes Against Persons Unit has enjoyed clearance rates consistently higher than the national average. Given these facts, one might wonder why the Stamford Police Department would need to implement a Strategic Plan. The answer is relatively simple. The Stamford Police Department does not operate within a vacuum. In order to continue to provide the highest quality law enforcement services, the Department must adapt to the evolving needs of the community it serves, and it must incorporate policies and practices that reflect current national professional standards in the industry. If we simply rested on our laurels, we would see a deterioration of our quality of life and a subsequent increase in the crime rate. A strategic plan, therefore, is vital to the health and continued success of any organization. The Strategic Plan recently adopted by the Police Commission presents a blueprint for how the Department plans to police the City of Stamford over the next five years. According to the Strategic Plan, in order to remain successful the Department must prepare for the future by: modernizing its policing strategies, adopting policies that reflect current national professional standards, utilizing modern technology in a manner that improves the information available to officers in the field and improving the problem-solving skills of officers. | In order for these goals to be achieved, the Strategic Plan outlines certain action plans that must be taken. These action plans are: development of a strategy and vision of policing for the future, strengthening the internal capacities of the Department by providing improved accountability and competence, institutionalizing the Department’s philosophy and commitment to neighborhood problem-solving policing and expanding and strengthening the internal and external collaborations utilized by the Department. Each of these actions will be defined in terms of scope with milestones utilized to monitor development, including specific benefits that will be realized from the successful implementation of each action. The core of the Strategic Plan revolves around the implementation of nine specific components over the next five years. These components are: strengthening neighborhood/problem solving policing, updating policies and procedures, strengthening homeland security, strengthening criminal investigations, creating organizational accountability, improving career development and personnel management, providing adequate staffing, creating a diverse workforce representational of the Stamford community and strengthening performance management. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the Strategic Plan will depend upon the degree of success in implementing these components. Without question, the Stamford Police Department is a great organization with a proud and rich history that has had a positive impact on making Stamford relatively crime free in comparison to comparably sized cities. We firmly believe, however, that the successful implementation of the objectives stated within this Strategic Plan will make the Stamford Police Department a model in policing excellence. The entire Strategic Plan is available on the Stamford Police Department’s website, www.cityofstamford.org.
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