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Law
Enforcement:
Getting More Bang for the Buck
By Richard D. Wiles, Chief of Police, El Paso Police Department
Budget constraints are nothing new to law enforcement management. But, in today�s economic environment, many departments are facing severe budget cuts not only from their local governing body, but also from reduced grants from the federal and state level. With all the other problems facing local agencies today, it is more important now than ever that agency leaders concentrate on their first priority � reducing crime and the fear of crime in their respective communities.
In terms of reducing the anxiety society has about crime and in demonstrating efforts at reducing crime, attention is usually focused on various projects and programs. But, more fundamentally, the ultimate effectiveness of a department in attaining that first priority depends upon each department�s philosophy, namely the collective values, ideas and opinions of the people in the department.
Of course, the term heard so much today and for the last several years for that matter, is �community policing�. Frankly, this term is misunderstood not only by citizens and community leaders but law enforcement employees as well. Community policing is thought by many to be a mysterious, complicated policing strategy that only �higher management� really understands.
In reality, community policing is a simple concept. It involves only two things: working in community partnerships and solving problems. When community policing becomes the philosophy of an agency and its employees, thorny issues such as budget constraints become more manageable. This certainly does not mean that it is more cost effective than the traditional style of policing but, in respect to our first priority, community policing enables us to continue bringing the crime rate down, thereby alleviating the fear of crime within a community.
One of the best examples to illustrate this is a program in El Paso, Texas called Law Enforcement and Private Security (LEAPS), a consortium of law enforcement personnel and private security with the following mission:
��to promote the concept of crime prevention; to enhance communication; and to encourage joint cooperation between law enforcement agencies, corporate security, and private security organizations to reduce the opportunity of crime within the city and County of El Paso, Texas.�
Dave Scepanski, the current president of the Associated Security Service and Investigators of the State of Texas, Inc., and other members of Security Companies with members of the El Paso Police Department developed a relationship to successfully use this program in 1998. It has gone through several changes over the years and continues to remain a dynamic force within the community.
This program epitomizes the philosophy of community policing. Security officers outnumber police officers in the City of El Paso by at least 20 to 1. And, while both groups are involved in the protection of life and property, there is often animosity between them. Through LEAPS, the El Paso Police Department has taken the necessary steps to bridge the communication gap, provide training to help continue and enhance professionalism within the security services, and work together for a common goal: safety and security for the citizens of El Paso in their persons and property.
The success of the LEAPS program is multi-faceted. The El Paso Police Department has approximately 1,100 commissioned officers. There are approximately 20,000 - 30,000 private security personnel working in El Paso. When these two groups work together, the net effect is a tremendous force multiplier. Having an additional 20,000 - 30,000 trained professional security personnel looking for, reporting and interdicting criminal activity has a definite effect on the crime rate in any city.
In these times of ever-tightening budgets and the terrorist reality, law enforcement agencies must more than ever think outside the box. And, getting more bang out of our bucks through community policing is an important step in that direction.
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