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Challenge #11- Police Services
As with any rapidly growing community, Meridian is experiencing increasing demands
for police services that are becoming more complex, time consuming, and hazardous.
The reported number of offenses within the City grew 35% since 1996 and 16% in just
one year, from 1999 to 2000. This trend has not slowed. Traffic congestion has taken
additional patrol resources and will continue to do so, reducing officer availability for
prevention, community education, and investigation. As shown in Chart 1, while
growth in police resources actually out-paced population growth in the mid-decade,
relative resource growth has markedly slowed in the latter years of the decade. This
has occurred at the same time that the City has experienced significantly increased
demands for police service.
Escalating traffic problems, personal and property crime have generated greater
demand and higher expectations while limited funding has curtailed preventive
services – creating difficult decisions when allocating resources. Population growth
will bring the need for more and increasingly diverse police services and greater
community partnerships to meet the challenges facing the City in the next several
years.
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(Note: “Offenses” listed above includes Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Theft, Vehicle Theft, and
Arson.)
Major Long-Term Goals
To reduce the growth rate of specific property crimes- burglaries and thefts
To maintain the current low incidence of violent personal crime.
To reduce the escalation of traffic congestion and personal traffic injuries related
to preventable accidents occurring within the City.
To maintain the current high levels of service quality, commitment, and
community involvement.
To increase the level of participation in collaborative inter-agency processes and
strategic partnerships with other governmental and local service organizations.
To increase the number of community services provided as part of departmental
community outreach.
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Key Strategies
Begin escalating the level of community policing through collaborative
activities, programs, and partnerships within the community.
Initiate an active program for fostering interagency involvement by encouraging
personnel from throughout the department to participate in a wide variety of
planning, educational, developmental, strategic, and tactical programs.
Seek innovative means to balance preventive programs with patrol, criminal
investigation, and service response activities, to create a stronger environment
for preventing crime before it occurs or escalates in the City.
Review and employ the very best new technologies to bring new efficiencies to
the department, allowing it to be extraordinarily efficient and effective.
Implement the very best training and professional development program
available to increase technical competence, efficiency, and tenure of officers and
civilian employees.
Establish the new Police Station as a center for community education and as a
community resource- making it a critical hub for both police services and for
developing strong relations and collaborative partnerships throughout the City.