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CASE #9 (Issue 66: February 1998)Submitted by Mayor Rosemarie Ives, City of Redmond, Washington and Chief Steven R. Harris, Redmond (Washington) Police Department Creating a Community of Good Neighbors - How a Police Department's National Accreditation Status Helps to Fulfill a City's Vision for its Community
We are exploring how best to meet these challenges on many fronts. One of the more proactive work initiatives we recently completed was the development of our vision statement for the City of Redmond and its organization. We have committed ourselves to fulfilling the vision of: "Together We Create A Community of Good Neighbors." In all city departments, staff has been committed to providing excellent service to the community for years. This was our attempt to keep that commitment in front of us as our guide when things get bogged down in the minutia. One department that is recognized as leaders in this commitment is the Police Department. The Redmond Police Department was accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in 1986. It was the first law enforcement agency in the state of Washington to be accredited and has maintained that status for over ten years. It is our belief that this commitment to excellence from the Police Department staff has greatly influenced and enhanced how we have fulfilled our vision of "creating a community of good neighbors." Accreditation laid the foundation to have sound policy and procedures in place. These policies hold the department accountable in the following high liability and community sensitive areas: use of force, evidence handling, records management, prisoner care, internal investigations, training, and managing criminal information. Other policies and services that accreditation challenged them to provide were those in the area of preventing crime, surveying the community to hear from them what their needs were, and analyzing the needs and services for victims of crime. Accreditation called out for resources to be committed to the areas of youth at risk and victims' rights. Accreditation also asked all officers to hold themselves to a high ethical standard and mandated a commitment to a code of ethics. All of this has laid a foundation that built trust between our community members and our police officers and staff. This trust has been positively validated by several different sources: recent community surveys, receiving the Good Housekeeping award as one of the best suburban police departments in 1996, and maintaining one of the lowest crime rates for a city our size in the state of Washington. As our Police Department and its officers commit themselves further to their community policing strategies, it is important that they have the trust of the community and of the managers within the department. Community policing comes with some risks, both to the officer and to management. Empowering people to take risks and problem solve indeed is the way to use our resources the most creatively and efficiently. However, without sound policies, procedures, and training, officers often find themselves in a large gray area where decisions are made without the benefit of guidance that would assist them in making appropriate decisions. For Redmond Police Department, maintaining accreditation allows them the framework to continue to provide the highest quality of service their resources allow, while maintaining those community-based strategies that will make the necessary inroads to creating our "community of good neighbors."
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The City of Redmond, Washington, has embarked on a journey of phenomenal growth and economic vitality.
The leaders of our city have had to meet the needs of a fast growing residential community of 42,000
residents (an increase of 18 percent since 1990), balancing it with the impact and needs of a business community
whose employment base (46,000) now exceeds the residential population. The business community has grown
49 percent since 1990. With the corporate headquarters for several large companies located in Redmond,
the challenges the city leaders and city employees have before them are great.
