Being Accountable To The Community

A recent conversation between myself and the director of our combined dispatch center renewed an interest of mine. Specifically, how accountable are our law enforcement agencies to the community with respect to documenting contacts with the public. This concept goes beyond issues of bias policing and more to the ability to provide an accurate picture of what law enforcement officers do in a community.

I am always a bit surprised that we are one of only a handful of police agencies that asks our staff to document all traffic stops individually. Since our dispatch center refuses to do this for us, our officers must make the extra effort to manually write the information on a NCR sheet and turn them into our clerks to be included with any supplemental documentation to be recorded into our computer system. As opposed to using the mobile data computers in their cars that are connected to the computers in the dispatch center. Apparently it is a staffing and time issue for the dispatchers to do this.

I am very proud of the Northfield P.D. staff for their willingness to follow this procedure. It reinforces my belief that our staff members really do appreciate the need to be open and honest about what we do. The data recorded allows us to view various trends and activities, answer citizen questions about officer activity and provides a check and balance system whereby I invite our local human rights commission to review the activities of our department. It is always good to have an outside set of eyes helping you in your evaluation of how you meet your mission.

Additionally, we are one of two nationally accredited law enforcement agencies in Minnesota and only one of about 500 nationally. I remember one individual who asked me how much it cost me to “buy” the accreditation several years ago when we first received the recognition. The comment was an insult to every member of our department who constantly strives to be open and honest about our operations. It speaks well of the willingness of our staff to again open their activities to an outside agency. We must meet over 460 national standards to continue our accreditation process. We will undergo examination again this August. As the process draws closer, I’ll keep you posted on what is going on and how it impacts our department and the community.

In our business, everything we do is about trust. I appreciate the support I get from our staff in providing a number of avenues in which we can work to keep the public’s trust. It may not be the easiest or cheapest route to take but it certainly is the right thing to do.

About Gary Smith

Chief Smith has served over 31 years in the criminal justice field. He is currently a consultant assisting public and private organizations better establish community goals and ethical conduct with the members of their organizations. Chief Smith serves as a facilitator, lecturer, professor and other capacities both inside and outside the criminal justice field.
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