Advancing 21 st Century Policing: The Arlington Police Department Report to the Community
COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME REDUCTION
Mentoring our youth Arlington officers mentor students and volunteer as tutors in after-school programs but some new initiatives are preparing youth for upward mobility in life. The Mentoring Arlington Youth Program is an award-winning crime prevention initiative involving the Arlington Independent School District, Workman Junior High School and the Arlington Municipal Court Juvenile Diversion Program. Eighth graders are assigned an officer mentor and together they journey through an 18-month life skills curriculum. In a partnership with the Junior League of Arlington, the program expanded in 2017 to include female officers and a curriculum for girls.
Officer shows young man how to knot his tie at a Dress for Success workshop.
Arlington clergy lead community prayer rally.
Coach 5-0 is another new student mentoring partnership with the Arlington ISD. This program is aimed at strengthening the bond between officers and student athletes. On practice fields, volley ball courts, sidelines and in weight rooms, officers are building trust, helping our adolescents cope with life and the pressures associated with being a student athlete.
Violent crime reduction efforts The Arlington Police Department deploys many crime reduction strategies but a recent effort is aimed at addressing violent crime. The department was tracking an increase in violent crimes involving robbery and aggravated assault and the enforcement strategies already in place were focused on offender detection and crime prevention. A task force was created, comprising of officers from the following units: Robbery, Gang, Street Crimes Tactical Intelligence, K-9, Covert, Traffic and the Media Office. Together, everyone is working to seek, identify and address criminal activity using real-time intelligence in target areas.
Theft prevention and reduction A unique program has been put in place to address an increase in crime at one our nation’ s largest retail stores. The Walmart Restorative Justice Program has won awards for the way it is shifting the focus from detention and apprehension to prevention. In the first year, theft and shoplifting arrests dropped 61 percent. First-time offenders are offered employment opportunities upon completion of the program.
Program helps to address repeated incidents of domestic violence.
Addressing repeat instances of domestic violence What started as six-month pilot program has been fully implemented to serve victims of domestic violence. Project Raise is helping to reduce repeat instances of family violence. A multi-disciplinary team approach involves social service teams and law enforcement working together to address the issues that repeat victims face. Their work takes them into the community to visit the locations of victims, educate and inform.
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