Stratified Model for Accountability, Response and Targeting, Tactical Action Group (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

British Columbia

City/ Region:

Port Moody

Description of Initiative:

This initiative is about trying to police smarter, and hopefully be more efficient by building on ComStat (computer statistics) and adding a problem solving, communication-building process to the mix. It starts with Tactical Action Group (TAG) meetings once a week. Our crime analyst extrapolates crime statistics from the system and lays them out in a way that is more digestible for the officers. At the meeting we go through the statistics and discuss what we think is going on and try to classify issues as short-term, long-term, etc. We then try to come up with solutions to the problem as a team. We try to come up with comprehensive solutions that utilize different sections of our department, where everyone is clear about what the other officers are doing about a particular problem, there is clear communication and we work together as a team.

Once a month we have a Stratified Model for Accountability, Response and Targeting (SMART) meeting and this is where we will sit down and look at the outcomes of our efforts. This includes analyzing changes in the statistics over that one-month period. At this time, we can choose to continue, tweak our efforts or try something new. The key is really about working together, communicating and targeting our efforts in a strategic way.

Initiative Key Objectives:

The objective is to have a coordinated approach with clear communication (improved team work) that is measurable by statistics.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

There is a civilian crime analyst who is responsible for the implementation of this initiative.

Key Contact:

Alex Tyakoff

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • civilian governing authorities
  • police association or union
  • other: would like to get relevant city departments involved in the future

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

The role of the other groups has primarily been information sharing.

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

The program began in September 2012.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

This initiative started when I received some complaints from junior members that at times they felt they needed more direction on what they were doing and wanted better alignment and teamwork. Also, officers kept asking for more members to help get the job done and, with the way budgets are, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. We need to work smarter and more efficiently, and part of that is being clear on what our objectives are and how we are going to address them and then communicating that. This is one strategy that we came up with and wanted to try.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

I anticipate that we will use more of the record staff’s time to help the crime analyst extrapolate information, and we need one computer program that costs $15,000.

Method of Implementation:

Police are notoriously resistant to change and I am sensitive to that, so I will phase the program in. It will start with a training component and then we will do the weekly meeting only for a few months. Then finally we will incorporate the monthly check-ins where we measure our performance and adjust our strategies. So basically it will be introduced in two phases.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

N/A

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

Yes

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

The communication strategy is internal only as this is more about operations within the detachment. It involves meetings with senior staff and then larger meetings with all staff to communicate the changes. The message is operational—what we are doing, how and why.

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • N/A

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

No

Summary of the Outcomes:

We haven’t started this initiative yet, but in large part it is premised on using statistics to evaluate ourselves monthly.

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

N/A

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

N/A

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01

Date modified: