that they were heard and understood . Consistently through each meeting participants felt they were able to get things done and start to solve problems . The structured meetings managed to promote inclusion , safety , and create a sense of community .
There was another valuable result from these events ; the five regions of Santa Cruz each had distinct patterns of criminal activity and residents of each of these neighborhoods had their list of concerns and priorities heard and planned to resolve . The officers walked away , not with an armload of complaints , but a way of prioritizing resources . This meeting concept was a win for everyone and all done in under an hour !
At the conclusion of these meetings , SCPD also concluded that all five of these areas had much in common ; everyone wanted increased police accessibility , effectiveness , community-directed policing initiatives , and proactive policing .
The follow up was an additional five meetings where SCPD introduced the new neighborhood officers , explained priorities and engaged neighborhoods in the process of crime control . These meetings if controlled properly do not have to be as bad as most of us fear . It takes planning , purposeful engagement and a little bit of creativity . ■
SPRING 2018 | California Police Chief 35