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LEAPS El
Paso
Deputy Chief Ken Adcox
Located at the furthest west corner of Texas, El Paso is the 21st largest city in the United States. Its sister city of Ciudad Juarez lies opposite El Paso, directly across the historical Rio Grande River. Together, the two cities create a melded bi-national community of more than 2.2 million people and the single largest bi-national metropolitan area on the U.S.-Mexico border. This unique arrangement provides El Paso with an extremely diversified culture and one of the fastest growing economies in Texas.
From left to right: Chairman 2007 Aaron S. Fernandez, Secretary
Dora Meza, Deputy Chief Ken Adcox and Outgoing Chairman
Roberto Diaz.
Although large in size, El Paso is fortunate to have avoided many of the crime problems that seem to plague most big cities. In fact, among communities of 500,000 or more, El Paso holds the distinction of being the safest city in Texas and the third safest city in the United States. Nonetheless, policing and securing the City of El Paso presents some very unique challenges due to the city�s population and proximity to both an international and state border. Each day tens of thousands of people enter El Paso from Mexico and New Mexico to visit, work, and shop; stretching the city�s law enforcement resources to their limit.
On behalf of the El Paso Chief of Police, Deputy Chief Ken Adcox
presents an award to Roberto Diaz as outgoing LEAPS Chairman.
With such a high demand for police services, the El Paso Police Department has had to find innovative ways of policing. Additionally, the department is committed to a philosophy of community policing and working closely with its private security partners in an effort to improve the quality of life and maximize public safety within the city. This collaboration between area law enforcement organizations and private security companies has lead to a renewed respect, improved communication, and a synergistic relationship between these two groups. These factors have proven to be mutually beneficial and have contributed to significant reductions in crime within the El Paso area over the past decade.
The primary vehicle driving this partnership between law enforcement and private security has been El Paso�s Law Enforcement and Private Security (LEAPS) program. Sponsored by the El Paso Police Department and the El Paso/Juarez Chapter of the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS), the LEAPS organization is led by an elected representative from the private security sector and is co-chaired by a deputy chief from the El Paso Police Department. Through the LEAPS Program, members of the El Paso law enforcement community, at the local, state, and federal level, and the private security sector, including guard, alarm, investigative, and institutional services meet for lunch each month. These meetings assist LEAPS in accomplishing its program objectives that include opening the lines of communication between the public policing and private security entities, creating public safety partnerships and cooperative initiatives, and increasing training and educational opportunities for both services. The objectives are accomplished through a number of LEAPS standing committees:
� Information Sharing/Networking: A committee has been established to foster open communication between LEAPS members. The relationships built around the LEAPS program help to foster trust between the public and private sector, increasing the willingness of members to share information with one another. The actual exchange of information is facilitated through direct communication between members as well as available technology. This includes a secure member forum and group emailing options, which are provided for through an exceptional website maintained by the El Paso LEAPS program.
� Security Officer Certification/Combined Training Opportunities: This committee works to increase combined training opportunities between public law enforcement and private security. Examples include bi-annual critical incident scenario-based exercise for which both the public and private sector participate. Additionally, the committee has created an 80 hour advanced private security officer course, which is offered bi-annually by the El Paso Community College. Many of the class sessions are taught by members of the law enforcement profession. Upon graduating, security officers are given a LEAPS pin, which is worn on their uniform giving the security officer increased status and assuring police that the security officer has advanced public safety training and skills.
� Membership and Recognition Initiatives: This committee is tasked with expanding LEAPS membership and representation from both the law enforcement and private security sectors. Currently, the El Paso LEAPS program has approximately seventy-five active members. Further, the committee ensures that members of private security and public law enforcement are appropriately recognized for outstanding events involving public/private cooperative efforts.
� LEAPS Programs: The programs committee is responsible for the identification and scheduling of quality speakers who provide training of interest to both law enforcement and private security at each LEAPS meeting. Training topics for 2006 included Homeland Security, School Safety, Identity-Information Theft, Transportation Security, Security Technology, and Victim Services. Training rosters are maintained and attendees receive continuing education credit through ASSIST.
Using these strategies, the LEAPS organization has succeeded in building a professional and productive relationship between the law enforcement and private security in the El Paso area. During the year 2007, the law enforcement community will continue to be represented by Deputy Chief Ken Adcox of the El Paso Police Department. Aaron Fernandez, from Securitas, was elected to represent private security during 2007, replacing Roberto Diaz, Assistant Security Director for Sierra-Providence Health Care Network. Robert is to be commended for his dedication and commitment to the LEAPS organization, and we wish him the best with his new position as the President of the El Paso/Juarez Chapter of ASIS.
With 12 years of progressive security experience, Aaron clearly has some big shoes to fill. The coming year promises to be an exciting one with ambitious goals having been set. During 2007, the El Paso LEAPS program will work to become the country�s first international LEAPS group by inviting members of both law enforcement and private security from our sister-city Juarez, Mexico, to join us in our endeavor to keep our conjoined communities safe and secure. Additionally, we will work to increase the timeliness regarding the exchange of critical public safety information. This will be done by implementing a system that allows LEAPS members to be instantaneously notified of incoming text messages using mobile communication devises, such as cell phones, pagers, and PDAs.
The El Paso Police Department is proud to be a founding member of our city�s LEAPS program. With immense pressure being placed on our limited police resources to keep crime rates down, the only hope to accomplish this seemingly impossible mandate is to form supportive partnerships with our private security providers. While public police and private security do have some obvious differences in mandates, we all share a common concern for public safety. With this in mind, it is imperative that we continue to openly exchange information, share our varying skill sets, and leverage our limited resources to prevent and deter crime in our communities. Law enforcement and private security are a logical alliance. Our two professions need each other as much as our communities need our protection.
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