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Fort Lauderdale Information |
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A Little About the Fort Lauderdale Police Department
By using this model, and allowing units to interact within the communities where they work, the police department is able to allow each community to help format the way in which policing is done within each community, so that specific neighborhood problems can be focused on, and minimized or eliminated. This provides the community with closeness to the police personnel responsible for their area, and provides the police officers and women working in each area with a sense of ownership for the community in which they serve. When the Community Support Division was first started, a survey was done of each neighborhood in order to identify specific problems and develop a priority list. CSD Teams were established to work in each geographic area, with a partnership developing between the citizens themselves and the police in order to find solutions for these problems. In 1999, an additional CSD Team, called Component Four, was added, working solely with Youth and is comprised of truancy officers, a juvenile alternative motivation officer, DARE officers, school resources officers, and a police sergeant. Working closely with students, parents, and Fort Lauderdale's schools, this unit hopes to provide for a close relationship with then children and teens in the area. The Community Support Division model has proven so successful that what initially began with 10 employees has grown to six times that in under a decade. It now has five separate components, which are comprised of Community Policing officers, Narcotics Detection Dogs, a Crime Analysis Unit, a Crime Prevention Unit, Code Enforcement, Youth Services, a Motor Pool, Administrative Services, and a Demonstration Center. The Crime Prevention Unit works by providing expertise in "crime prevention through environmental design." They conduct surveys similar to the ones conducted when the Community Support Division was first started. In addition, they assist other operations' units in an effort to get at the overall solutions needed for any neighborhood problems that are encountered.
Rather than giving simple tours of the police department, under the Community Support model, the Demonstration Center was created in 1998 to provide the public with training courses and workshops. Their mission is to improve the quality of life in each community the FLPD serves by offering education, commitment, and an active partnership with the public. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department has succeeded in ways that other cities might well envy. Check with us often as we bring you unique information about the Fort Lauderdale area.
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Since 1995, Fort Lauderdale's Police Department has used the Community Support Division (originally called the Community Policing Initiative) to guide the way it provides services to the public.
The Crime Analysis Unit is staffed by civilians who provide reports based on police reports each month. These summaries help to give a clear picture of any problem activities in and around the area, and they help to define problems by geography so that special attention can be given as needed. They also look at response times and overall management and accountability issues, with an eye toward continuing the make the Fort Lauderdale Police Department as beneficial to every community as possible. While in some areas, inspections are done by city and county officials, the Code Enforcement Officers associated with the CSD provide the inspections and enforcement of all Fort Lauderdale City codes, promoting a clean and safe environment. This unit is composed of building inspectors, fire inspectors, and police officers. This combination brings together a range of enforcement options not usually available.