Community Policing — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Hi. I'm Kirkland police chief Cherie Harris and I'd like to talk with you
2. 0:04about community policing. In this video I'm gonna first describe some background,
3. 0:09then I'll explain what feedback the city is seeking about community policing, next
4. 0:14I'll present some key considerations to keep in mind and I'll finish by telling
5. 0:17you how you can join in the civic conversation. First a little background.
6. 0:21The Kirkland Police Department participated in the creation of a
7. 0:25strategic plan in 2016. Since then we have work to implement
8. 0:29certain recommendations contained in the strategic plan including an increased
9. 0:33focus on community policing. While the department was implementing these
10. 0:37recommendations, a school shooting in parkland Florida happened in February of
11. 0:412018. In response to this members of the Kirkland community initiated a civic
12. 0:46conversation on the topic of gun safety that continued for several months. That
13. 0:52process of civic engagement led to the creation of proposition 1, an enhanced
14. 0:57police services and community safety ballot measure which was part of the
15. 1:01November 2018 general election. Kirkland voters passed Proposition 1 and the
16. 1:07police department began preparing for the increased staff that were created in
17. 1:11the ballot measure. With these new resources and priorities committed in
18. 1:15proposition 1, city leadership decided this was a great time to engage our
19. 1:19community to better understand the community's expectations on community
20. 1:24policing. As a result the city manager directed city staff to consult with
21. 1:28Kirkland businesses, neighborhood associations and other stakeholders to
22. 1:32accomplish three things. Establish neighborhood specific public safety
23. 1:37priorities and identify possible performance measures associated with
24. 1:41those priorities. Explore effective ways for residents and businesses to better
25. 1:46partner with the police to enhance proactive crime prevention strategies
26. 1:50and encourage residents and businesses to work closely with the police
27. 1:54department to maintain and strengthen trusting relationships that make our
28. 1:59community safer. As we begin this Civic conversation here are some key
29. 2:04considerations to keep in mind when I talk about community policing, I'm
30. 2:07generally talking about the law enforcement philosophy that emphasizes
31. 2:11relationships between the police community members. These relationships
32. 2:16help our police officers engage with residents to prevent crime from
33. 2:19happening instead of only responding after incidents occur. Currently the
34. 2:23police department assigns community policing two specialty positions such as
35. 2:27the neighborhood resource officer, school resource officers and programs like the
36. 2:32Kirkland Community Police Academy, National Night Out against crime and
37. 2:35Coffee With a Cop. I welcome input about these programs and I also welcome your
38. 2:41public safety priorities, Ideas on crime prevention strategies and ways to
39. 2:45maintain and strengthen trusting relationships between the police
40. 2:48department and the community. Over the next several months city staff will be
41. 2:53out in our community at neighborhood associations, business group meetings and
42. 2:57community events. Please click on the link below to find out how you can join
43. 3:00in this civic conversation about community policing. Thank you so much for
44. 3:05watching and being engaged in our community.