INSIDE the Lakeland Police Department

Developing Performance Management Best Practices

The recent Senior Leadership meeting for all City departments focused on performance management, that is the process of measuring what you do and then finding ways to do it better. It's something that LakelandPD has been involved with for many, many years.

This year's meeting, an initial step in preparing for the annual retreat for City Commissioners next year, emphasized not only measuring what you do (outputs) but to also measure what your results are (outcomes). Trying to measure results (particularly in police work) is more complex than it seems, but if done right links outcomes with a strategic plan to report on how well an organization achieves its goals.

This is all very timely for the City of Lakeland as you may have seen or heard about a recent directive from the White House that requires federal agencies to produce systems where government data can be accessed online in a transparent, understandable format.

It seems like performance measures have been a key element of our operations forever at LakelandPD, and we're committed to transparency in reporting both our outputs and outcomes. The challenge is to design a way to accomplish this so the information is succinct and easily understood by the public without getting bogged down in the data.

We publish crime stats on our website and provide access to daily maps of crime in the community or your neighborhood. We also uploaded key performance measures until earlier this year when we changed data managements software and had to begin a lengthy process to change our reports. (We're still working on that one.)

Our goal for now is to create new online reports that will provide the performance data most often requested from the public. (It seems like the current business phrase for all of this is "performance dashboards.") Below are samples of performance dashboards for violent and property crimes we are developing. If all goes well, they will be uploaded later this weekend and will become part of a comprehensive redesign of our website. (More on that another day.)

 

As always, your comments and feedback are appreciated.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Should the Police "Follow" You?

One of the many changes we are seeing with the emergence of social media is how virtual and actual relationships are established and maintained. These changes fit well into our community policing philosophy of partnerships with the community, in this case the social media community. We now have hundreds of followers, some from all over the country, who are interested in our media releases and informational blog postings. We are appreciative of their interest in LakelandPD.

But should we be "following" them?

For many people, the thought of the police following them (such as while driving down the road) generally produces panic, fear, and sweaty palms. And to now have the police follow you on Twitter or Facebook or via blogs, well, I wonder where should we draw the line between social interaction with the community and respect of one's personal space?

We follow a couple dozen entities on Twitter, mostly businesses or organizations in our community with whom we have a professional or personal relationship. Of course we follow numerous police agencies also to get ideas and keep up with what our peers are doing, but we do not automatically follow everyone who follows us. Some police agencies follow many more in their community under the auspices of maintaining a more open relationship with residents and businesses. The decision as to who we choose to follow is really on a case by case basis.

Now I realize that privacy is almost non-existent in the social media realm. We put stuff out there knowing others are likely going to see and read it, all with the realization that we can somewhat restrict who sees our posts, updates, and profiles on Twitter and Facebook.

So I ask this question to get a deeper understanding from our social media community - how would you react if you got notice that LakelandPD wanted to follow you on Twitter?

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakelanders Helping Fellow Lakelanders

While I was driving around Lake Hollingsworth at lunch time today, two women were walking around the west side of the lake when one of them twisted her ankle and fell to the ground. Witnessing her fall and not get up, I turned my police car around and drove back to see if I could render any aid or assistance.

In the time it took me to turn around, and I'm talking moments - not minutes, three other cars and two walkers were stopping to see if they could help the woman who fell. I thought that was pretty impressive and really illustrates what makes Lakeland such a great community - people care for each other here in our town.

The woman is fine and will be okay once her twisted ankle stops swelling and begins to heal. In the mean time, I want to take a moment and thank the citizens who stopped to render aid. I didn't have a chance to get their names, but they deserve a pat on the back for being so quick to help someone in need when it would have been just as easy to drive by and not stop.

Well done folks!

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lock It or Lose It - Cases from the Weekend

In our efforts to get the word out to folks just how important it is to lock our vehicles and secure valuables left inside the passenger compartment, I thought I might summarize the "Lock It or Lose It" cases from this past weekend.

"The victim stated she parked her car in front of a business in the 800 block of N. Massachusetts Avenue between 1530 and 1600 hours, leaving the vehicle's windows down and her purse sitting on the front passenger side floor board. The vehicle was left unlocked and unsecured. The victim returned to her vehicle and discovered her purse was missing."

Hmmm, wonder why that happened...

"At approximately 1038 hours on Sunday morning, the victim left her vehicle running while she ran into a residence in the 100 block of W. Hancock Street for a moment. When she returned to the vehicle, the victim's purse was gone."

She's lucky the car wasn't stolen as well as her purse...

"The victim advised that between 1920 hours and 1940 hours, her vehicle's driver's side window was shattered and her purse was taken from the passenger side seat."

As in, left in plain view rather than secured somewhere safe like the trunk...

These are three victims from the weekend's crime report who could have prevented the theft of their purses if they had practiced the concepts of "Lock It or Lose It". Two other car burglaries occurred this weekend to locked vehicles and had car stereos taken. While these types of offenses are difficult to prevent, our other victims had a chance to take some simple precautionary measures that would have minimized their chances of becoming a crime victim.

Remember - "Lock It or Lose It!"

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Celebrating 16 Years of Filling Playgrounds, Not Prisons

Lakeland PAL, the Police Athletic League, this evening celebrated 16 years of service to the youth in our community during their annual dinner at Tigertown. PAL's mission to fill playgrounds, not prisons, is achieved through athletic and academic programs that focus on providing opportunities for youth to engage in wholesome activities rather than less desirable ones.

The keynote speaker for this evening's dinner was retired four star general Lloyd "Fig" Newton from the United States Air Force. General Newton told the audience his story of being a young child from the small town of Ridgeland, South Carolina, and becoming the first member of his family to attend college. He went on to serve our nation as a pilot in the Air Force and eventually became a member of the distinguished Air Force Thunderbirds. General Newton noted how comfortable he was addressing the audience in a hangar where pilots from Great Britain and the United States trained during World War II.

General Newton had a message for the PAL kids in attendance - to dream of what you want to do and accomplish in life and then set specific goals, in fact to write them down, in order to achieve your dreams. He reminded the kids that goals require hard work and dedication if we want to achieve them.

Chief of Police Roger Boatner thanked the many PAL staff members and volunteers who make our program such a success and gave recognition to the Lakeland City Commission who continues to provide funding so Lakeland PAL can carry on serving the youth in our community.

PAL's athletic programs include football, basketball, track and field, baseball, and cheerleading. Academic programs, such as after school tutoring at Simpson Park help students excel in school, while the Youth Directors leadership program shows aspiring leaders the importance of giving service back to one's community.

Congratulations to Lakeland PAL for 16 outstanding years of service and thank you for your commitment to the youth of Lakeland.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

"Stop, Drop, and Roll"

For what seems like the umpteenth time this year, I recently reviewed several daily crime reports and noted a series of vehicle burglaries where the victims left purses or cell phones or laptops or other valuable pieces of electronics in plain view. You know the story by now - the victim returns to their vehicle and is shocked to discover their items left carelessly on the seat have been stolen.

We continue to preach the message that everyone needs to lock their vehicles and secure valuables or risk losing them, but I fear the message merely falls on deaf ears for the most part.

And then I got to wondering with the immediacy of social media, is there a way for law enforcement agencies to get the word out so a phrase like "Lock It or Lose It" can become an equivalent to the fire department's infamous phrase "stop, drop, and roll."

It seems like every elementary school student quickly learns the basics of what to do should your clothing catch on fire - you stop running, drop to the ground, and roll over numerous times to put out the flames. Pretty simply stuff.

So why is it so difficult to get people to remember a basic crime prevention strategy?

Any ideas or suggestions as to how we might be able to make "Lock It or Lose It" go viral through today's social media world and maybe prevent some of these vehicle burglaries?

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

CPA on the Shooting Range

One of the highlights for participants in the annual Citizens Police Academy is the Saturday morning session at the LPD Training Center where they visit with some of our Special Operations equipment, watch a K-9 demonstration, and get to shoot a police handgun. The 2009 CPA got to experience the thrill of training on the firing range this past Saturday.

   

Under the watchful eye of our Rangemaster, Officer Mark Patterson (center photo above), the class "sent some lead down range" toward paper training targets. For some members of the class, this was the first time they have ever shot a weapon. I am told a few of the classmates are pretty good shots!

More important than simply being able to fire a handgun, the class learned first-hand what officers go through with our ongoing firearms training and the skills required to maintain proficiency with our weapons.

The year's Citizens Police Academy is scheduled to graduate on November 19th.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere
 
 
 
 

Halloween Safety Tips

It's time once again for our Halloween Safety tips. This link takes you to our website where you will find a safety brochure and a link to a safety video file from our School Resource Unit.

We encourage parents to take a moment and review these ideas and safety tips designed to ensure your ghosts and goblins (or super heroes or princesses) have a safe Halloween this year.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

LakelandPD Awarded Florida Crime Prevention Unit of the Year

One of the services we strive to provide our community is the prevention of crime long before it happens. Crime Prevention programs have been around for many years as police departments worked to educate the community on ways to prevent home burglaries, keep our children safe from strangers, or women safe from sexual assault.

And so it is with great pleasure that announce LakelandPD's Community Services Unit was awarded the Crime Prevention Unit of the Year distinction by the Florida Crime Prevention Association.

LPD Community Services Unit 

Our unit's members, including Supervisor Dr. Greg Robinson, Mr. George Butler, Ms. Cynthia Clifford, Ms. Anna Ricks, and Ms. Cindy Sharp, received the award at the Association's annual meeting last week. All of the members are Certified Crime Prevention Practitioners as designated by the Florida Attorney General's Office.

To be recognized by your peers for ongoing excellence in efforts to prevent crime and raise awareness in our community that crime prevention is everyone's responsibility is a tremendous honor. We salute our Community Services Unit for this distinction.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Promoting Bike Helmet Safety with Amscot Financial

LakelandPD partnered with Amscot Financial and other law enforcement agencies in central Florida last week to distribute free bike helmets to pre-school and elementary school children. The helmets were donated by Amscot as part of their annual corporate program to promote bike safety for children. This was the seventh year for the helmet giveaway.

Officers Wesley and Kendrick and our Crime Prevention Unit joined volunteers from the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association and Amscot management at their location at 614 East Memorial Boulevard to hand out the free helmets and make sure they fit properly.

Our volunteers tell us seeing the smiles on the children's faces is reward enough for assisting with this program, but we do appreciate their time to make this effort such a success. And thanks to Amscot for continuing their commitment to making sure children have a helmet to ride their bikes safely.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere