Whether interacting with a resident, business owner, or other key stakeholder, the Castle Rock, Colorado, Police Department partners and builds trust with our community through our One-By-One Policing philosophy. First, we work hard to create a physically and psychologically safe culture within our department, so our officers and professional staff are best equipped to serve our community members with compassion and empathy. That allows us to work with community members on a more individualized basis, where we can better meet their needs and collaboratively work to find solutions to their problems. It is through this mindset that we are able to create an environment that is safe and secure and where we can all thrive together.

We are always searching for new ways to partner with key organizations in our jurisdiction. Perhaps our largest partnership is with our parish’s public school system. We have numerous resource officers, D.A.R.E. officers, and roving security deputies working to not only protect our school children but to also participate in their educational advancement. In fact, we recently have been working with the school system to teach high school students criminal justice—a course we are providing at our own training academy. We are confident this will help students understand policing better and, hopefully, encourage them to consider a law enforcement career.

We also partner with our local United Way agency, battered women’s shelters, and daycares, sending deputies out to mingle with the clients of all these agencies on a regular basis.

The Mendham Borough Police Department does not partner with just one organization but with the entire community. Every year, we seek donations from the community to continue allowing us to send the local high school’s graduating seniors off to college with a scholarship. The scholarship is a direct benefit to our stakeholders because it allows us to provide funds that cover the cost of books/ebooks or other essentials. We have been honored to assist our local youth, who have gone on to attend college and technical school—one even became a professional EMT with the New York City, New York, Police Department. I have been with the scholarship program for 26 years, and it is truly giving back to the community.

Community engagement and relationships are at the core of our organization’s philosophy and mission. Long before “community policing” became what we know it as today, our organization sought to build meaningful relationships with all sectors of our community—businesses, homeowner associations, faith-based organizations, civic organizations, and more. We did this not because it was convenient or because we knew it would be beneficial but because it was simply the right thing to do. We have seen the direct benefits of community law enforcement academies, civilian boards, and operating with a spirit of honesty and transparency. We recognize that our community both expects and deserves that from us. It is a shared responsibility of all our agency members.

At the heart of modern public safety is collaboration and partnership. The heroes of law enforcement can no longer “go at it alone” with only our traditional stakeholders. In times of limited financial and human capital resources, our partners now come in the fire and rescue arenas, the private technology sector, and the fire insurance industry. Our integrated work and intelligence solutions must jointly answer the bell, not just in times of crisis, but equally during everyday challenges. As a profession, we must collectively find efficiencies but never wane from defending those who stake their lives to save another’s. We are force multipliers, and we must relentlessly fight for those who critically need us the most. 

At the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department, we strive to be national leaders in community policing. My “better together” philosophy ensures I regularly hear from members of the Community Oversight Review Board, established in summer 2020 with the goal of strengthening accountability, building trust, and fostering greater transparency between police and the students, faculty, and staff we serve. We partner with student leaders who help share safety messaging in the most impactful way possible: peer to peer. We collaborate with the City of Boulder in sharing emergency information with all of our community members, on campus and off, in the most timely manner possible. Providing stellar service to the university and broader community is possible thanks to these valuable partnerships.  

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office serves diverse communities with different needs. We value our partnerships with local nonprofits and community groups and make sure we have ongoing relationships between them and our staff. Many of our deputies and staff have long–standing relationships in the area or grew up in these communities, so for them, it’s an opportunity to blend their personal and professional passions together, serving in communities they love and care deeply about. We understand that most community issues require a collaborative approach, so we see ourselves as community leaders who can help bring the right voices and resources to best meet the needs of the community. 

A key amenity of the Town of Vail is the national forest, which surrounds the town; as such, the national forest impacts many of the town’s stakeholders. The police department is involved in the management of busy trailheads. This planning is complex due to competing interests—local residents desire managed trailhead access so that their neighborhoods are not degraded by traffic and uncontrolled parking, and our visitors have a desire to maximize their experience, which includes having easy access to popular trails. Vail Police Department has worked with both stakeholder groups to develop solutions such as a “bus–to–hike” system which allows access to popular trails, while minimizing neighborhood impacts. The fire department has partnered with the local national forest to provide initial attack for wildfires and to implement forest management projects that reduce the threat of wildfire and protect the community.

Like many organizations, my agency works to provide consistent messaging across multiple platforms to further our mission of making our communities safer.  While I certainly believe we should continue these efforts, I also find our communications to be somewhat predictable. When I am in my uniform, my message is almost assumed. I strive to engage with key stakeholders who have the ability to share a similar public safety message using their own voice and perspective.  By partnering with influential organizations and people, messages have the opportunity to be repeated and punctuated when we are not in the room and with an added level of credibility offered only to a person’s trusted friends and family.