Lt. Jim Brown

COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION

In order to reduce crime and maintain strong, positive relationships with the various

communities we serve, it is imperative that we pursue a proactive community policing role. This agency cannot rely solely on its regular, responsive divisions to accomplish the high level of personal service and community involvement that is necessary to accomplish this; therefore, we have established a specialized division that is dedicated to providing specific community services upon demand.

The Community Services Division was formed in July 2001 and provides a specific

tool for strengthening community partnerships when formulating policing strategies. While specific police officers have been assigned to crime prevention tasks and community activities, this agency promotes and understands that all members of the Department have a responsibility for enhancing the quality of life for all of our citizens.

Crime Watch/Neighborhood Associations: One of the most important duties of the Community Services Division is to provide a liaison service between community groups and the Police Department. The division works to mobilize communities with high crime rates to form community crime watch groups, and to make certain they are properly educated in ways to conduct crime watch operations.

The community service division provides support for citizens who express an interest in forming a crime watch association. This support includes, but is not limited to initial organizational meetings, selection of boundary lines for the association, assisting with community surveys to expand membership in the new associations, providing boundary line maps, providing information on available City services and how to access those services, providing equipment such as bicycles for citizen bike patrols, and providing continued police support by having at least one district officer, one detective, and one member of the community services division attend each monthly crime watch association meeting.

Weed and Seed: The Weed and Seed Program is a Federal Block Grant Program administered through the Attorney General’s Office. The Community Services Division provides police officers to work the Weed and Seed Programs on an off-duty and overtime basis. The community services division lieutenant controls and administers the police portion of the Weed and Seed Budget. The Police Budget is used to provide officers for security at the Weed and Seed office area and to reduce crime in the Weed and Seed areas of operation in the community. The Weed portion of the program deals with crime reduction within the community, and the Seed portion deals with security for the Weed and Seed office area which is known as the Weed and Seed Safe Haven.

Police Athletic League (PAL): The community services division lieutenant serves as the Florence Police Athletic League (PAL) Coordinator. The lieutenant controls and administers the PAL yearly budget. The PAL Program provides support in the form of police volunteers and funding for numerous youth sport programs. The community services division lieutenant organized and started the PAL Program in 1998. Since its inception, PAL has provided support for swimming programs, youth baseball teams, football teams, bowling programs, track and field programs, City recreational programs, and a junior hockey team.

Community Support/Education: The community services division provides support to organizations throughout the Florence City and County areas. This support includes Bicycle rodeos, Bicycle Safety Classes, Adult Safety Classes, Child Safety Classes, Safe Kids Programs, Flim Flam and Scam Talks, Safety Programs at all local schools, Assistance with City Job Fairs, participation in Parades, and Static Police Displays for numerous community organizations. While this list is not complete, it illustrates the wide range of activities the Community Services Division is involved in on a daily basis. The community services division also plans, organizes, and presents the annual "Get Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs" Program. This program involves support from both the City and County.

The Community Services Division is tasked to provide educational opportunities for the public concerning police operations and responsibilities by conducting a Citizens Police Academy.

The Community Services Division is further tasked to participate in all special community events in the City of Florence where a police presence is desired, and to organize and implement new community programs such as the National Night Out Against Crime annual event.