Programs & Topics of Interest

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City Government » Departments » Police Department » Programs & Topics of Interest

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

Local police are supported, in large measure, because citizens prefer policing which is responsive to local desires for service and the opportunity to base policing priorities on citizen needs. To this end, the City of Mason Police Department is a community-oriented policing agency. The City of Mason Police Department believes that contemporary challenges require the police to provide full-service policing, proactive and reactive, by involving the community directly with them as partners in the process of identifying, prioritizing, and solving problems. Citizens share in the rights and responsibilities implicit in identifying, prioritizing, and solving problems as full-fledged partners with the police.

Citizens are asked to take a more active role in the solution of problems. In exchange, the community policing officers are free to work with people on developing immediate, as well as long-term, solutions for community concerns in ways that encourage mutual accountability and respect. Community policing broadens the City of Mason Police role to make a greater impact on facilitating changes today that hold the promise of making the community safer and more attractive tomorrow. Community policing officers respond to calls for service, make arrests, and write traffic citations, but they also go beyond this narrow focus to develop and monitor broad-based, long-term initiatives that can involve all elements of the community in efforts to improve the overall quality of life. As the community's ombudsman, the community policing officer acts as a link to other public and private agencies that can help in any given situation.

Officers are assigned to each of the four permanent patrol districts. Residents and business persons in their district know these officers on a first-name basis. They spend time focusing on problems identified by residents and businesses in each district, and they facilitate resolutions to these problems.

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT - PROGRAMS

The benefits of the City of Mason's community policing initiative are evident within the various services provided by the Police Department. A quick glance at some of these services and programs includes:

International accreditation - The City of Mason Police Department is an internationally accredited police agency. Approximately 618 law enforcement agencies have achieved this distinction. The Mason Police Department is voluntarily measuring up to a body of standards representing the highest professional levels of law enforcement.

Accreditation standards address six major areas: 1) law enforcement roles, responsibilities, and relationships with other agencies; 2) organization, management, and administration; 3) personnel administration; 4) law enforcement operations; 5) prisoner and court-related services; 6) auxiliary and technical services.

The City of Mason Police Department provides proofs of compliance with approximately 445 standards. Compliance is verified by independent, credible, outside observers every three years. The police department was initially accredited in 1997. It was reaccredited in July 2000, July 2003, and July 2006.
D.A.R.E. - The Police Department teaches the D.A.R.E. curriculum to all 6th grade public and parochial school classes in the Mason School system. The D.A.R.E officer also makes classroom visitations to all grade levels.
Law Class - Officers instruct classes at William Mason High School that focus on contemporary issues in law enforcement and the role of law enforcement in society.
School Resource Officers - The City of Mason Police Department, in partnership with the Mason City School District, initiated a School Resource Officer program in 1998. One school resource officer works full time at William Mason High School. School Resource Officer duties include a variety of police-related activities and counseling of students.
Neighborhood Speed Watch - Initiated in 1994, the Mason Police Neighborhood Speed Watch is now a program recommended by the Ohio Department of Highway Safety as a viable program for municipalities experiencing traffic problems. Through this program, residents experiencing traffic speed problems are loaned a radar unit. After receiving training from a police officer, residents monitor the speed of traffic in their neighborhood. They maintain a log of vehicles found to be in violation of posted speed limits. A letter is mailed to the registered owner of each violating car identified by "Speedwatchers," asking for cooperation in maintaining safe highway conditions in the City of Mason.
3rd Grade Seatbelt Safety Program - This program teaches third grade students the importance of using vehicle restraint systems. It is a highly popular training program because of the novel manner in which the instructors use eggs to demonstrate the effectiveness of safety belts.
Publications - The City of Mason Police Department creates a number of publications for the community it serves. The How To Get It Done... series focuses on problems often encountered by members of the community and explains how to resolve these problems. The Mason Police Department Annual Report is distributed to elected officials, the media, and the community. Copies are available for review at the Mason Public Library.
Neighborhood Watch - The City of Mason has 15 active Neighborhood Watch groups that work as partners in the criminal justice process, rather than impediments to progress. Residents in Neighborhood Watch groups have frequent contact with district officers assigned to their neighborhoods. Police officers attend meetings of each Neighborhood Watch group to help facilitate problem resolution in each neighborhood. Neighborhood Watch has grown from a simple crime prevention program to a full-fledged cooperative partnership designed to improve the quality of life in the residential areas of the City of Mason.
Safety Festival - The Mason Police Department and Mason Fire Department co-sponsor a city safety festival. Information and display booths and safety services personnel provide education and safety material on home hazards, water safety, home security, poison control, fire safety, water safety, D.A.R.E., first aid, and other topics.