Since becoming Chief in August 2019, we have faced many challenges. We have had some serious issues to deal with for sure, but I do believe we are on the path of improvement. Still, I know there is much that needs to be addressed if we are truly going to better our community.
Our community continues to grow, and our department is striving for change. I can tell you in the last nine months we have made some significant progress in several areas. Some of these changes come in training, recruitment, adjusting to new challenges and striving for a better relationship with the community.
I spoke about our recruiting efforts last month. We have changed the living requirement for DPS Officers, now allowing them to live 30 miles from the city limits. I believe in due time; this will be key to get our staffing levels back where they need to be. We are currently down six officers and one communications officer, but we are expected to lose three officers sometime this summer to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. However, we have applications in hand that we are currently evaluating.
Still, when I look at what we have to accomplish and what we are up against, I think the biggest area of improvement needed is our relationships with the members of our community. This is apparent considering recent events that have taken place. I will not go into those events here, but I realize what must be done on our end. We were making it a priority to participate and be present in community events until COVID-19 struck, hampering this effort. I hope to kick this back up, at least in some capacity, as people begin to interact more publicly.
But I do realize public trust is a must to succeed on a regular basis. Improving this trust is not only for us but for the betterment of the community. I realize some recent events have eroded some of that trust. Being the leader of this department, I want you to know that building public confidence will continue to be a priority in my administration.
We may be a city of just 16,000, but we have the same crime, alcohol and drug use and violence you see in every city in America. How do we protect ourselves from this and make a better place to raise our families? We must work together.
Years ago, cops would walk the beat and speak with citizens on a regular basis, not just when something bad happened. When citizens have a personable relationship with police, those same people are more likely to give that officer the needed information to keep the community safe. This includes reporting crime, suspicious activity, participating as a witness or more.
Both the officer and the citizen are responsible for their community. It is a shared responsibility for public safety. What kind of city would we have if the police and our citizens came together as a single force to provide peace, safety and for the good of the community? Don’t we as a community decide what is acceptable and what is not? We have the specialized training in police science, criminal justice and modern investigative techniques. But we cannot ever be truly successful in preventing violence and crime without community participation.
My Dad always tells me that a relationship is a two-way street. I know if I want to help achieve the goal we all want, I have to make improvements on our end. As Chief, I am going to continue to stress these non-enforcement interactions to develop relationships. I am also looking at a way to jumpstart this relationship and I have some ideas that we will be working on that will be in everyone’s best interests. I think it is time we sit down and have some discussion on our policing. In many instances, we just need to better explain why we do what we do. In other instances, we need to improve our efforts and I realize that.
In closing, I want to say that we have a great department full of officers that care and want the best for our community. We have a responsibility to see that our officers meet expectations and hold them accountable when they do not. We strive for a professional department, but this is an ongoing endeavor. I take this responsibility seriously and I am asking for you to help us. Report suspicious activity, crime and make us aware when you feel we are not meeting expectations. We cannot fix any of these problems if it is not reported. We have to work together.