Police Department Violence Reduction Strategies
1 Public Safety Sub-Committee Meeting
October 15, 2024
Chief John Cregan
Santa Rosa Police Department
Introduction
We plan to share an update on the police department’s ongoing efforts to reduce violent crime in our community. Our approach is comprehensive, data-driven, and focused on problem-oriented policing strategies through collaboration with other city departments and community stakeholders .
Violence reduction has been a key priority for the police department, and we are proud to report significant and measurable progress. The police department is focused on ensuring that we have a safe and vibrant community for all community members to enjoy.
Operational Objectives
It starts with clear operational objectives from the Chief of Police Department Focus on:
Violence Reduction
Traffic Enforcement and Safety
Quality of Life Crimes and Mental Health Support
Community Engagement
Focus on Proactive Policing
Specialty Teams with Specific Expertise
Gang Crimes Team focused on Enforcement, Prevention, Intervention, Education Special Enforcement Team focused on high visibility uniformed patrols addressing illegal firearms and rapid response to violent crimes Violent Crimes Team focused on investigating violent crimes and addressing repeat violent offenders Downtown Enforcement Team focused on homeless impacts and safety downtown and across our public trails
Data Led Policing Initiative
Monthly Beat Report highlighting defined focus areas based on the four operational objectives Creation of Patrol Beat Dashboard to document progress and better coordinate police response to issues Monthly Agency Data Report to examine community wide crime and police officer response statistics Department wide focus on utilizing data to better understand community issues and allocate resources to holistically address them
Problem Oriented Policing Principles
These techniques encourage officers and supervisors to utilize evidence-based approaches to criminal behavior that have not been resolved through traditional police work.
This idea of identifying and working through problems fits within the SARA (Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment) model of Problem-Oriented Policing (POP).
These methods have been proven to reduce crime and victimization. Officers are now focusing on addressing the environmental impacts such as lighting or reduced vision from the roadway to help make areas less susceptible to crime.
Impacts of Full Staffing Levels
All sworn police officer positions are currently filled, and this allows:
Improvement on Priority 1 response times
Specialty teams staffed to capacity
Higher visibility in the community
Time for proactive policing efforts
Ability to diagnose issues in high crime areas and focus on the root causes of the issue Capacity to build community connections and partner together to address the concerns
Focusing on Root Causes of Crime
Partnering and collaborating with:
Violence Prevention Partnership
Community Engagement Team
Transportation and Public Works
Planning and Economic Development
Community Stakeholders
School Districts
Overview of Violence Reduction Strategies
Clear direction and operational objectives
Proactive Policing Efforts
Efforts of trained Specialty Teams
Data Led Policing Initiative
Problem Oriented Policing Principles
Focus on Root Causes of Crime
Collaboration with other City Departments
Impacts of Full Staffing
The collective work of the men and women of the Santa Rosa Police Department
Questions?