CPD works on geographic policing strategy
Officers will be assigned to patrol individual sectors.
Published Dec. 11, 2009
The Columbia Police Department is working to implement their geographic policing strategy, set to commence in January 2010.
Geographic policing is a system that would put more officers on the street, City Manager Bill Watkins said in the 2010 budget proposal. CPD's plan is to re-purpose existing positions for new assignments.
CPD Chief Kenneth Burton said geographic policing has made a difference so far.
"Well it definitely does in the downtown area, that was our experiment," Burton said. "And I already knew it could work."
Capt. Steve Monticelli, a CPD Patrol Division Commander, has been working on a system that would utilize existing beat boundaries in the short-term, a June CPD news release stated.
"At present, we have 14 beats, and this number does not include beats 40 and 45," Monticelli said in the release. "This led to ineffective policing, as we often have had to send officers far out of their respective areas of town to handle calls."
Burton said the amount of beats have been reduced to eight, with two beats within each quadrant of the city.
Monticelli said CPD wanted the citizens of Columbia to have alternative methods to quickly report lower-priority calls without any wait. In order to do this, geographic policing keeps officers in their sectors.
"The benefits of officers remaining in their sectors include not only the more efficient use of resources, but also the ability to better identify and address specific issues that they observe, or are made aware of," Monticelli said in the release. "Officers will have a better opportunity to address quality of life issues that affect the residents within their sectors."
CPD Deputy Chief of Police Tom Dresner said some steps toward geographic policing have already been taken. Some of these include the promotion of additional lieutenants and sergeants, and splitting the city into two sections run by two patrol commanders. This gives officers responsibilities over their specific geographic areas.
CPD Capt. Brad Nelson said each side of town has a commander, two lieutenants, six sergeants and 36 officers.
"It is basically providing ownership to each individual officer all the way up to the captains," Nelson said.
Geographic policing was really nothing magic, Burton said. It is demanding his officers be accountable.
"It's making those assignments and making sure you have the right person in the position and holding them accountable for what happens there," Burton said.
Burton also said if his sergeants aren't trying, problems could arise. Not everything will work, but when the officers are trying that is all that matters.
Beat realignment, call prioritization and a move from a 10- to 12-hour patrol schedule are some steps that still need to be taken, Dresner said.
Nelson said geographic policing is probably going to take one to two years for everything to be implemented.
"It is not like you flip a switch and then there is geographic policing," Nelson said.