Police study offers recommendations
Constructive recommendations to attain “a higher level of community policing” and gain “higher levels of driver cooperation in obeying traffic laws” are among the several major elements of a recently completed Law Enforcement Services Study for Yorba Linda.
A 71-page report on the study’s findings is scheduled for public discussion at the Jan. 19 City Council session. The report reviews the city’s current police contract with Brea and explores other law enforcement options, as described in my Dec. 17 column.
The informative, council-commissioned study by Ralph Anderson & Associates cost $43,000, as approved last year, with John Anderson, Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing voting in favor and Jan Horton and Jim Winder opposed.
Yorba Linda’s current contract with Brea expires in 2012. The second council signed the first agreement with Brea in 1970, after three years with the county Sheriff’s Department, which also policed the area prior to incorporation in 1967.
The report states Brea police are “committed to the values of community policing,” but notes “a true community-oriented policing program” planned in 1993 “does not appear” to have “ever occurred,” except for “occasional implementation” based on crime spikes.
“The status quo may get the job done, but…misses the opportunity to attain a higher level of community policing,” advises the report, which makes 13 recommendations to “bolster the Brea police connection to Yorba Linda….”
One involves establishing a “police action team” for each of the city’s four beats, and another calls for written expectations to “assign responsibility, support empowerment, reward initiative and encourage problem-solving participation” by team members.
Elsewhere, the report suggests creating a Yorba Linda Community Policing Advisory Committee with police personnel, city officials and representatives from religious and non-profit organizations, neighborhood associations and the Chamber of Commerce.
Regarding traffic enforcement, the report notes “the demeanor and public relation attributes of traffic officers when they stop a driver for a possible traffic violation.”
The report states: “Even though the number of interviews … was limited, and certainly not statistically significant, it was striking that those who did have contact with the Brea motorcycle officers had a uniform negative experience with the process.”
And continues: “This included city officials, private citizens and members of the law enforcement community who work for other agencies, but who live in Yorba Linda.”
Suggesting the use of warning citations to achieve improved safety without “the negative connotation of giving a driver a citation,” the study claims “some agencies report positive results,” since enforcement can be measured by logging the warnings into police records, which also allows officers to quickly check a driver’s warning history.
A 71-page report on the study’s findings is scheduled for public discussion at the Jan. 19 City Council session. The report reviews the city’s current police contract with Brea and explores other law enforcement options, as described in my Dec. 17 column.
The informative, council-commissioned study by Ralph Anderson & Associates cost $43,000, as approved last year, with John Anderson, Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing voting in favor and Jan Horton and Jim Winder opposed.
Yorba Linda’s current contract with Brea expires in 2012. The second council signed the first agreement with Brea in 1970, after three years with the county Sheriff’s Department, which also policed the area prior to incorporation in 1967.
The report states Brea police are “committed to the values of community policing,” but notes “a true community-oriented policing program” planned in 1993 “does not appear” to have “ever occurred,” except for “occasional implementation” based on crime spikes.
“The status quo may get the job done, but…misses the opportunity to attain a higher level of community policing,” advises the report, which makes 13 recommendations to “bolster the Brea police connection to Yorba Linda….”
One involves establishing a “police action team” for each of the city’s four beats, and another calls for written expectations to “assign responsibility, support empowerment, reward initiative and encourage problem-solving participation” by team members.
Elsewhere, the report suggests creating a Yorba Linda Community Policing Advisory Committee with police personnel, city officials and representatives from religious and non-profit organizations, neighborhood associations and the Chamber of Commerce.
Regarding traffic enforcement, the report notes “the demeanor and public relation attributes of traffic officers when they stop a driver for a possible traffic violation.”
The report states: “Even though the number of interviews … was limited, and certainly not statistically significant, it was striking that those who did have contact with the Brea motorcycle officers had a uniform negative experience with the process.”
And continues: “This included city officials, private citizens and members of the law enforcement community who work for other agencies, but who live in Yorba Linda.”
Suggesting the use of warning citations to achieve improved safety without “the negative connotation of giving a driver a citation,” the study claims “some agencies report positive results,” since enforcement can be measured by logging the warnings into police records, which also allows officers to quickly check a driver’s warning history.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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