ACAMS Today Magazine (March-May 2011) Vol. 10 No. 2 | Page 39

PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS tionships with law enforcement and draw on them. Partnerships with law enforcement can be a valuable asset to your compliance team. “Developing a great relationship with law enforcement in your area is critical,” Gillum said. “Every compliance office should have a point of contact with law enforcement. When faced with a situation you are unsure of, call your contacts. You can bounce ideas off of them and ask them what they think of the situation.” Compliance officers should build strong relationships with both federal and local law enforcement, says Sgt. Jim Cox, CAMS, supervisor of the Special Investigations, Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Police Department. “I am a firm believer that you should have both,” Cox said. “We get every SAR that involves Fairfax County, but sometimes a SAR won’t get to us until two years down the road. By the time we get the SAR, we are often already working the case from information we’ve received from the community. Because we are a local law enforcement agency we know the community and get a lot of information from them. The SAR is important and it adds to the case, but the information from the community is also very important. If a teller notices that a guy comes in frequently and visits his safety deposit box and then makes a large cash d