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ProVIdINg UNParallElEd TraININg & SErVICES To law ENforCEMENT ProfESSIoNalS aNd ThE CoMMUNITIES ThEY SErVE
UPDATE
In ThIS ISSUE:
3 Information Technology 4 Employee Surveys 6 Mark Your Calendars 7 aggregator Sites 8 Spotlight on Training 8 Passion at VCPI
VCPI UPdaTE
The VCPI Update is published quarterly by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation as a service to law enforcement professionals and the communities they serve.
Community policing as a philosophy is one of the most closely aligned examples of a true win/win situation. Thats what we strive to do in our problem-solving approaches, right? I think this is where it gets really interesting. doing this as part of a problem-solving initiative is one thing, but really living this habit is another. win/win is a hard concept to embrace in a culture that encourages, fosters, and rewards competition. Combine that with the law enforcement environment and its even more difficult. So, with the possibilities of the third alternative in mind, how many opportunities to build this do we miss on a daily basis. in our communities, at work, and at home? living the 7 habits is hard. dr. Covey frequently comments on the difficulty of living the habits, the possibilities realized by doing so, and the consequences of not. he even admits that the better you get at each habit, the more difficult they actually become as layers of new difficulties and applications are unveiled. The competitive nature in me likes this challenge. and it makes me feel better since I completely flunked the 4th habit today. I had a discussion with a business colleague about a problem on a program were working on together. we both had our own perspectives and ideas about the best solution. So, without thinking about the third alternative, we both fell into old habits (none of which are included in Coveys 7) and after hours of discussion, the solution to the problem we came up with was nothing either of us had envisioned, was nothing either of us was happy about, and both of us lost. It was a lose/lose, not a win/win. The good news is that the third alternative will work tomorrow as well and I can try it again. (for those Covey fans out there, youll note this is a concentrated effort in focusing my attention on the circle of influence and not the circle of concern.) like much of what is contained in the 7 habits, the 4th habit: Think Win/Win is not easily mastered. obviously, Im practicing. Im better at some of them than others and Ill keep working on all of them. Thats just what lynda leventis-wells, director of the Carolinas Institute for Community Policing (CICP), challenged each of us to do after completing the CICP program: Take what youve learned, apply it in your life, and share it. go out and create a win/win for all of us. Now that we have a better picture of just exactly what that means, we can.
read past VCPI Updates, stay informed of new developments and special projects, and register for upcoming training on our website:
www.vcpionline.org
VCPI has partnered with CICP to deliver The 7 Habits for Law Enforcement course in Virginia. The course is currently scheduled at the Chesterfield County Police academy in Chesterfield, Virginia on September 15-17, 2010 and at the Cardinal Criminal Justice academy in Salem, Virginia in January 2011. Visit VCPIs website at www.vcpionline.org for details. Seats are limited, so register early!
This project was suppor ted by Cooperative agreements: US doJ, CoPS grant 2009CKwXK017, NIJ grant 2007IJCXK026, and the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation. Points of view or opinions contained within this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. department of Justice or the National Institute of Justice.
By Mr. daVId tayLOr, ChIef InfOrMatIOn OffICer Of the LynChBurg POLICe dePartMent and MajOr h. Wayne duff, jr. dePuty ChIef Of POLICe Of the LynChBurg POLICe dePartMent Terminal. as soon as the officer submits the stolen property report electronically, Pawn Tracker immediately searches pawn records for a match. granted, the lPd is just one of many law enforcement agencies utilizing electronic reporting; however, the agency was fortunate to have a CIo with the skill set to develop a system specific to the needs of law enforcement. davids background allows him to think like a police officer while developing information technology systems and implementing solutions specific to the needs of the lPd. as agencies work to integrate information technology it is important to note that this is not always the case when you purchase off the shelf software.
another area where information technology can increase the success of law enforcement services is in information sharing. historically, law enforcement has not always effectively shared information, reducing the ability to solve crimes and to enhance public safety. Intelligence sharing is another example of working smarter not harder. The lynchburg Police department is utilizing information technologies as a means to efficiently share information with law enforcement partners throughout the United States. The department recently implemented Sungard P2P (Police 2 Police), which enables data sharing with other participating agencies while maintaining control over records management systems and databases. P2P uses secure site encryption technology to enable incident, name, vehicle, pawn transaction and property queries. It also integrates CoNTINUEd oN PagE 5...
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Employee Performance and Engagement in Public Safety Survey: Creating Effective Organizations through Better Understanding of Employees
By MIChaeL PhIBBS, IntegrItaS LeaderShIP SOLutIOnS, LLC
survey, which was administered through surveymonkey. com, had a 38 percent rate of return. from the data, Phibbs, Baynard and wriston have created a baseline by which other organizations may compare. a few of the key findings of the survey are summarized as follows: organizational Branding The baseline survey results show that employee performance began to drop almost from the beginning of their careers, if their pre-employment perception of the organization did not match the organizational realities. Theory would expect to find such a drop beginning in the middle or late stages of an individuals career, not in the early stages. It is shocking that 30 percent of public-safety employees indicated that they knew nothing about their organizations before getting hired. If you track these individuals you can see where performance issues may arise. Understanding and embracing the concept of branding an organizations particular police style increases the likelihood of a good fit between an individual employee and the organization as a whole. It is also interesting to note that in examining the data, it was found that the minor differences that occur in the smaller units combine to help create an organizations overall individuality. organizational Responsiveness The response patterns for performance and engagement were relatively consistent from organization to organization. over 51 percent indicated that they are fully engaged but felt their organizations were not responsive. By increasing
have you taken the Cold Case analysis Training for law Enforcement and Prosecutors online? This online course gives law enforcement and prosecutors the opportunity to learn about cold case investigation from the initial file review and development of a squad to building a case for successful prosecution. This is a tuition-free course funded through the National Institute of Justice. do not miss out on this exceptional training opportunity! register today at www.vcpionline.org; complete at your pace.
SUMMER 2010 Volume 11, Number 3 what officers perceive as responsiveness, organizations can adapt and evolve into a culture where high performance is the norm. on the other hand, organizations that ignore their employees will see negative performance issues develop, continue, or grow. The economic impact associated with these negative performance issues typically equate to increased administrative and operational costs. Effective Communication at the basic level, the study reinforced the need for supervisors to not only learn the concepts and techniques of effective evaluations, but also to practice them. It is suggested that they role play in order to develop a level of comfort to prepare for difficult, but necessary, conversations with subordinates. Supervisors need to ask tough questions, such as: how am I doing? and how much of the problem is the subordinates and how much of the problem is mine? opening and maintaining lines of communication are critical to increasing effective performance. In developing two-way communication the likelihood of outstanding performance increases, becoming the norm and not the exception. while these are just a few of the key findings, they do provide insight. In fact, after seeing the results, one chief indicated that while some of the results had been expected the data now exists to support the expectations. In some cases the study discovered that despite an organizations belief that positive changes had been implemented to correct problems, those problems were still present and creating an undercurrent affecting performance. one organization was so impressed that they stated that although they had already begun making changes prior to the survey, they wanted to do the study again in two years to find out if the changes being implemented were impactful. CoNTINUEd froM PagE 3... with the oSSI Master Name subsystem to provide mug shots, demographic data, warnings, alerts, and any involvements. lPd also joined the Virginia law Enforcement Information Exchange (lInX). lInX consolidates existing information from Southeastern and Central Virginias law enforcement agencies to maximize the benefits of individual agency efforts in gathering, collating and analyzing of data; to prevent and respond to terrorist and criminal threats; to support preventive, investigative and enforcement activities; and to enhance public safety and force protection for the regions law enforcement community. Currently, there are 46 agencies on the local, county, state and federal levels including universities, airport and port authority police departments. The participating lInX agencies understand that by leveraging technology and collaborating through information sharing, greater success in preventing and solving of crime and terrorism is achievable. lInX will also be interfaced with the National Information Sharing Strategy (NISS), which will provide connectivity to all regional information sharing systems. 1 on the horizon, the lynchburg Police department is in the process of implementing Police-to-Citizen (P2C) which utilizes
an organizations overall performance is driven by its operational effectiveness and the level of engagement of its most valuable assetthe individual. Surprisingly, the survey results suggested several relatively simple and inexpensive ideas which, when implemented, can increase performance levels. from a fiscal perspective, increased performance reduces administrative and operational costs. Therefore, investing time in understanding the employees within your organization increases engagement and performance at the individual level and has the potential to reduce long term costs at the organizational level. Several other organizations have expressed an interest in participating in the study. If you have such an interest or wish to discuss the study finding in more detail, contact Michael Phibbs at mike.phibbs@integritasleadership.net.
the internet to host a portal for citizens to retrieve, enter, and print reports. Citizens can search accident reports, view the daily bulletin, view missing persons, view the agencys event calendar and enter basic incident reports. In a time when we are all facing funding reductions, we must challenge ourselves to find opportunities. Information technology advancements in law enforcement have proven to be a means of working smarter by increasing efficiency and thus effectiveness. as stated earlier, effective law enforcement organizations must be proactive problem solvers with visionary leadership constantly striving to find innovative and creative means of providing law enforcement services. There may be a better way, and we can only discover it if we challenge ourselves to never accept the status quo. If you would like to learn more about the information technologies being utilized by lynchburg Police department please contact Major h. wayne duff at h.wayne.duff@lynchburgva.gov or CIo david Taylor at david.taylor@lynchburgva.gov.
1 http://www.ncis.navy.mil/lInX/virginia.html
VCPI UPdaTE
experience who are involved in a peer support program, and who understand the importance of awareness, education and prevention of law enforcement suicide. To confirm and hold your seat in this course once you have registered online, you must send a letter of recommendation from your Chief or Sheriff to VCPI Training Coordinator, Sheila gunderman via email at sgunderman@vcpionline.org or fax to (804) 644-0309 prior to august 17, 2010. The letter should include: agency support and recognition of the importance of this project; assurance that the trainer will be given every opportunity to educate, through roll-call or in-service training, sworn and non-sworn staff on awareness, education and prevention of law enforcement suicide; assurance that the trainer will provide data on these in-house trainings (i.e. date and how many staff attended training) to the fl rCPI for required reporting to the Bureau of Justice assistance. This fall, the Carolinas Institute for Community Policing (CICP) and VCPI will run two sessions of FranklinCoveys Diversity Centered Leadership for Law Enforcement. one will be conducted october 20-21 at the Southwest Virginia Criminal Justice Training academy in Bristol, Virginia and the other will take place on November 9-10 at the richmond Police academy in richmond, Virginia. diversity training in many organizations is as much an effort to reduce legal exposure as it is to help people work better together. But to what end? while we might think we see the world as it is, we in fact perceive it the way we are. Imagine a law enforcement environment where professionals recognize the value of diversity and move beyond judgments and bias to become role models of cultural leadership and change. Embracing this concept is not only important to complying with the law, but essential for building a high performance agency. FranklinCoveys Diversity Centered Leadership for Law Enforcement Professionals workshop teaches individuals to expand their perspective of diversity and become diversity leaders for others. as a result of the training, participants will:
due to the importance of this BJa funded project, it is critical that the appropriate people participate in this program as they will be asked to provide this training to staff at their agencies. Ideal candidates include officers with instructional
u u u u u u u u u
Valuing the differences in others demographic changes and their impact Communication skills Equal Employment opportunity (EEo) vs. diversity Stereotyping racial profiling high performance teams developing an awareness of personal belief systems Personal leadership
and it is anticipated that seats will fill quickly. Please visit www.vcpionline.org to view full course descriptions and to register today. In addition to these events, there are many excellent training opportunities being provided by VCPI throughout the summer/fall months, including: Scenario-Based Executive Level Training; Patrol Drug Interdiction; Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigations; Searches of Electronic Media and Computers; Forensic Crime Scene Investigation for First Responders; and Advanced Highway Criminal Interdiction and Hidden Compartment Training. Check www.vcpionline.org for dates, locations, costs, and to register.
is free and available to anyone who wants it without your knowledge. Pay a small fee and even more information is available. Is it fair to say that you shouldnt use social networking sites if you want your information to stay private? Some would argue yes. others would disagree, stating that if you put your information on social networking sites, you have it there for your friends in your network to see not anyone else. why dont you decide for yourself? a good example is www.spokeo.com. go to the site and enter your cell phone number and see if an aerial photo of your house comes up. or type in your name and location and see what information has been compiled. Then decide whether or not your expectations of privacy are being met. Besides the fact that most people are unaware that their information is being aggregated and published, a big problem with these sites is that the information they are providing may not always be accurate and could even be misleading. for example, searching for a friend or family member may result in a hit; however, the photos that show up may be of total strangers. If you are one of those people who would like your information to remain private, look for the opt-out feature provided on most sites. for example, to opt out of Spokeo, simply go to the site (www.spokeo.com) and click on the privacy button at the bottom of the page. You will have to provide an email address before you can delete your information. It is important to be diligent about maintaining your privacy online. do a simple google or other search-engine search of your name and location every so often to see what information is being made available about you. In a world where information is being exchanged with more and more frequency and ease, maintaining privacy is going to become more and more challenging for those who want to stay out of the public eye.
VCPI UPdaTE
In 2005, digital evidence from a floppy disk led investigators to the BTK serial killer, a criminal who had eluded police capture since 1974 and claimed at least 10 victims. digital evidence from a mobile phone led international police to the terrorists responsible for the Madrid train bombings, which resulted in the deaths of at least 190 people in 2004. digital evidence collected from computer networks at universities and military sites in the 1980s led to the discovery of international espionage supported by a foreign government hostile to the United States.1 Electronic media is constantly changing and criminals quickly identify new ways to thwart law enforcement. Most officers are able to identify basic computer parts and peripherals, but did you know that digital evidence can be disguised to look like common items such as toys, key chains, pens and even food? do you know how to avoid the most common pitfalls when it comes to the admissibility of digital evidence? digital evidence is fragile; do you know the most common sources of corruption that can destroy a case? This VCPI spotlight highlights a course which reflects the needs and requests of the public safety community as is demonstrated throughout the VCPI course catalog. Searches of Electronic Media and Computers provides officers with the knowledge needed to search, seize, and preserve electronic media for evidentiary purposes.
This course is designed to suit the needs of patrol officers who are first responders, as well as the detectives who conduct intricate investigations ranging from homicides to sex crimes. Course topics include:
Participants will have an opportunity to put lessons learned to use with a mock search/seizure/evidence preparation exercise at the conclusion of this 8-hour course. This course is currently on the VCPI training calendar for September 8, 2010 at the rappahannock regional Criminal Justice academy in fredericksburg, Virginia. This course has been approved for 4 hours legal and 4 hours career development in-service credit through the Virginia dCJS. registration and course information is available at www.vcpionline.org.
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