- Department-wide implementation.
The PSA model was introduced one year ago as a strategy for redeploying patrol resources. And patrol deployment remains an important part of the model today, as it will in the future. But for this model—this philosophy of community policing—to achieve its full potential, it must do more. It must become the philosophy of the entire Metropolitan Police Department, not just our Patrol Services Bureau. Every member of the MPDC—sworn and civilian, in all bureaus—must understand the concepts of partnership and problem solving. And every member of the Department must be prepared to support those concepts through their own work—whether it is in criminal investigations, communications, information systems, recruiting and training, or any other specialized or administrative unit. At the same time we are improving the PSA model at the neighborhood level, we must also work to instill the philosophy throughout the organization.
- Relationships with other agencies and services.
Until now, much of the Department's focus has been internal, on getting the basic model up and running in the PSAs. But the fact remains that the police and community alone cannot solve many of the crime and disorder problems we face. We must have the cooperation and resources of other agencies—public and private—to deal with problems such as broken street lights, abandoned buildings, substance abuse, and others. Addressing these underlying causes and conditions is an essential part of any public safety strategy, but something which we have yet to effectively implement. With your cooperation, we must work to transform our "community policing" model into a true "community government" approach to public safety.
I will close by repeating something I said at the very beginning. Our PSA model is a work-in-progress. There has been considerable progress over the past year. But there is also considerable room for growth and improvement—in the areas I highlighted, and probably others as well. I have already begun to initiate some of the changes that are needed, and the process of change will continue. Five years from now, if we are successful, community policing in the District of Columbia will not even resemble community policing as we know it today. It will be better, stronger, more widespread, and even more focused on fighting crime and meeting the needs of the community.
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