WOODLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT

The Woodland Police Department is committed in developing community policing as a department wide philosophy. The department began this endeavor by first developing a deployment schedule that encourages an officer’s ownership to their beat and gives the officer the ability to resolve issues within their beat. The schedule also encourages teamwork between officers working the same beat on different shifts. Officers now work the same beat during their entire four-month rotation and many officers work the same beat the entire year.

The department developed a Problem Oriented Policing access database to capture those issues identified in their beats. The database can be accessed by all officers and as the officers address the issues, they update the database with their actions and results. The database is a fantastic tool that allows employees in the entire department to monitor issues occurring in different areas of the city and to see the steps taken to resolve those issues. The database also provides a historical record of actions taken to address problem areas.

The department’s employee evaluation system also supports our attempt to institutionalize community policing. Our evaluations contain a category specifically addressing the officer’s ability to address problems in their beat. In an attempt to provide timely feedback, our sergeants sit down with each officer monthly to review their performance. At the end of the four month rotation, the sergeant completes a rotational evaluation on each officer on their team. Included in this rotational evaluation is the officer’s performance on problem identification. Officers receive annual evaluations that span three rotations. This annual evaluation also addresses the officer’s efforts in problem identification.

Our department’s efforts to institutionalize community policing are evident in our command staff meetings. A standing agenda item at each meeting is the status of our department’s P.O.P. projects. By including the status of the department’s P.O.P. projects in each week’s meeting, the Chief holds the division lieutenants accountable for the continued progress in problem areas and demonstrates the department’s commitment to maintaining the philosophy of community policing.

This commitment is also expressed in our department’s monthly reports which are distributed throughout our department, City Manager and City Council. Each month the report contains a synopsis of one of the department’s P.O.P. projects. The synopsis is written by a different sergeant each month and captures the identified problem, the steps to be taken to address the problem, and the current status of the problem. This detail reinforces the level of commitment throughout the department and forces the department to be accountable for our efforts in resolving problems.

Our commitment to community policing is department wide and involves all personnel from the patrol division, traffic division, crime prevention, crime analysis, and investigations division. Our officers have built partnerships with many public and private organizations and community members and have worked with them to resolve identified issues.

Dan Bellini, Lieutenant
(530) 661-7838

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