When is a Police Department Considered to be Good?

Here's something to think about regarding police performance measures -

Is a police department good when they are doing their job by making lots of arrests and issuing lots of traffic citations, or is a police department good when they do not make lots of arrests?

Looked at another way, does making arrests and issuing citations make a police department good at promoting public safety?

If not, how do you tell if your police department is considered to be good?

Tell me what you think...

-Asst Chief Bill LePere

Comments

[Asst Chief Bill LePere]

M.H. Mathis makes a great point with his comment, which we appreciate. It's good to hear from him again. I will post in the next day or two a seven dimension model of how the public should judge their police agency. Look forward to comments on this upcoming post.

[M H Mathis]

Determining how good any police department is, depends greatly on its history and culture. If an agency suffers the malaise of incompetent leadership, internal politics, or favoritism these problems will have a direct influence on the officers in the field. The actions of City Hall will also impact how a police department operates. A "good ole boy" mentality where certain people or groups are considered untouchable can affect the attitude and morale of any police department.

The majority of law abiding citizens will judge a police department on its level of fairness and approachability and understand the need for enforcement via arrests and tickets. The ones who do not understand this are usually the ones negatively involved with the police department.