Community PolicingCommunity Policing
[Click on the image to learn about this painting]
Community Policing
You may have heard a lot about "Community Policing" in the last few years. It has come to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Essentially, it is a mixture of the old and the new. It is an effort to get back to a time when police were more involved in the daily activity of a community. For the most part, it is a return to the type of policing we experienced many years ago before the explosion of crime in the sixties and seventies overwhelmed law enforcement's resources. Community Policing aims to get officers out of the isolation of their cruisers and into the heart of the community, getting to know the people they serve. In return, the people get to know the officers patrolling on their behalf. A bond of respect and trust between the people and their police allows for an environment where a cooperative effort to solves problems results.
The Norwood Police Department is committed to the philosophy and principles of community policing. Community policing has many purposes and goals, but the main objective is the absence of crime through crime prevention and a proactive approach to law enforcement. This is achieved through the cooperation of the police and the community we serve. Norwood Police has several programs and practices that encompass the concept of community policing.
Conehead Program Walk & Talk Adopt-A-Cop Citizen's Police Academy
Hug-A-Bear Bike Patrol Crime Watch Night Watch Cops & Kids "Ropes"
Bike Registration Program Addiction Intervention Clicks for Flicks
Each summer, the Norwood Police Department, Norwood Senior Center, and the Outback Restaurant combined their efforts and provide an old-fashioned cookout for Norwood Seniors. Venues have included the Norwood Senior Center, and the Outback restaurant itself located on Morse Street in Norwood. At left, Mess Sergeants Peter Kelly and Bob Doucette dish it out.
On November 11th, The Norwood Police Department and
the Norwood Junior High School held the First Annual Cops & Kids Ropes Adventure
Challenge at the Hale Reservation is Westwood. Members of the police department led
by Chief Bartley King and members of the Junior High School faculty led by Principal Jack
Cook were joined by dozens of students for a day of rigorous challenges. Eight
certified "Ropes" instructors from Hale Reservation provided guidance.
The goals of the Ropes Adventure Challenge include:
Improving commuications between students and police officers.
Sharing a positive and challenging experience and thereby developing a rapport and greater trust, (both ways).
Fostering a spirit of teambuilding and cooeration among police officers, students, and school staff.
Building a spirit of community among students from all grades and diverse backgrounds and abilities at NJHS.
By the end of the day, Cops and Kids alike have built a mutual trust as depicted in these photos.
Our newest community policing program
is "Clicks for Flicks." Because of generoous cooperation of Hollywood
Video, our patrols will be rewarding families found conforming with the Massachusetts
Child Passenger Safety Law by awarding them with a certificate (see sample at left).
Attached to the certificate is a coupon redeemable at any Hollywood Video for a free video
rental. Officers are encouraged to look for opportunities to reward children and
support parents for their compliance with the law.
For more information about Child Passenger Safety click here.
The Norwood Police Department produces a cable program called "Crime
Watch." Each month, Officer Paul Bishop hosts a riveting half hour of
discussion and video presentations. The show touches on a myriad of topics surrounding the
Norwood Police Department and trends in law enforcement in general. Check the local
access channel for times.
Officer Bishop is the Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police and is the press relations officer. He is a thirty year veteran of the Norwood Police Department.
If you have a topic that you would like to see addressed on Crime Watch you can email Officer Bishop at pbishop@ci.norwood.ma.us
The "Night Watch" program of the Norwood Police Department is a coordinated effort between patrol officers and the owners of properties that they protect. It involves the patrols making critical comments about a merchant's store or manufacturer's building in an effort to solve problems or correct situations which might invite crime. The officer on patrol might notice a light malfunctioning or some other situation which might be a hazard. The officer will write a comment on a "Night Watch" slip and leave it for the property owner. A carbon copy is returned to the station. In some instances, an officer will be dispatched during the daytime to follow-up on the night officer's suggestion.
Current Massachusetts Law requires
children under the age of 13 years to wear an approved helmet while on a bicycle (either
as rider or passenger). The Norwood Police Department has long recognized the need
for a program which encourages children to voluntarily wear a helmet. 
Annually, bicycle accidents cause 600,000 visits to hospital emergency rooms. The most
serious injuries are head injuries. A serious head injury can cause lifelong
disability or death. Experts agree that a helmet can reduce the risk of a serious
head injury by over 85%.
Under Norwood's Conehead program, children are rewarded with a free ice cream for wearing a bicycle helmet. Officers on patrol will be looking for children on bicycles, skateboards, or rollerblades who are wearing helmets. The officer will give the child a "citation" which is actually a coupon for a free ice cream. The child may redeem the citation when accompanied by a parent. Children not wearing helmets will not be given citations.
The Norwood Police also sees the Conehead Program as an excellent opportunity for police officers and children to get to know each other. A program such as this provides a positive contact between police and children. Over 8,00 citations have been issued during the first 8 years of the program. Several ice cream stores have participated in the past. Friendly's at 1469 Providence Highway has been a sponsor since the program's inception in 1993. Additionally, the Norwood Health Department and the Norwood Skate Park Committee are sponsoring a reduced cost helmet program. Multi-sport bicycle helmets can be purchased for $5.00 at the Norwood Health Department at the Town Hall.
A walk & talk is an
activity that gets the officer out of the patrol car to interact with people at various
locations throughout Norwood. Playgrounds, schools, restaurants, stores, gas
stations, hotels, neighborhoods, and parks are just a handful of locations where an
officer will talk to kids, parents, business owners, shoppers, and other citizens.
Topics of conversation range from everyday small talk to matters where the police can be
of assistance. This is a very effective way for an officer to get to know the people
who live and work in Norwood.
The purpose of our Citizen's Police Academy is to provide the citizen's of Norwood an opportunity to learn more about the police department, the officers, and the different tasks performed by the department.
1st Graduating Class
Participants complete ten lessons and a "ride along." Topics covered in the program include:
Patrol Procedures
Crime Scene Search
Domestic Violence
Criminal Interrogations
Criminal Investigations
Crime Prevention
Narcotics
Officer Survival
Accident Investigation
Domestic Violence
Community Policing
Professional Standards
OUI (Drunk Driving) Enforcement
Evidence Procedures
Hostage Negotiations
Use of Force
Motor Vehicle Law
Elder/Child Abuse
DARE
911 Communications
Role of the Courts
2nd Graduating Class
3rd Graduating Class.
In an effort to familiarize
our children with the officers that work in the areas where they live and go to school we
instituted the Adopt - A-Cop Program. Officers make visits to the elementary schools
in their area on a regularly scheduled basis, at least once per month. The officers
spend their lunch break with the students in the lunch room and then outside at recess and
interact with students in a positive, non-threatening environment. Officers who
volunteered this year are: Officer Kevin Grasso at the Callahan
School - (A graduate); Officer Robert Harkins at the Prescott School; Officer Joseph Flaherty
at the Oldham School; Officer Dan Kehoe at the Balch School; Officer
Jim Payne at St. Catherine's School; and Officer Steve Begley at the Cleveland School.
Officers frequently respond
to emergencies where children are present and are upset due to the nature of the incident,
e.g. domestic violence, car accidents. The children are given stuffed teddy bears
which have been crafted and donated by the New England Telephone Pioneers. Well over
800 Hug-A-Bears have been given out over the past several years. If it brings a
smile to an upset child, it is well worth it.
There
are several Norwood police officers who patrol the town on special edition police mountain
bikes. These bikes make the officers more approachable to residents and allow the
officers access to places that a patrol car wouldn't be able to reach. Bike officers
also give classes at local schools on bike safety and the need to wear helmets.
During the spring and early summer, the bike officers set up booths at local schools and playgrounds to register bikes. Registering bikes helps both the bike owners as well as the police. When your bike is lost or stolen, all the owner needs to do is give the police the registration number. This eliminates searching for the bike's brand name, model name, style, serial number, etc. When the bike is registered, the owner and the police each retain a copy of the bike description and registration number. Also, the police recover many abandoned bikes, which if registered, can be promptly returned to the rightful owner. This program is advertised in the local papers and through the schools.
Addiction Intervention Program
The true spirit of community policing is for the police to take a leadership role in solving community problems. This often requires the cooperation of the public or of other agencies. Certainly, drug addiction is a problem which affects not only the addict, but his or her family, friends, neighbors, and you, the tax-payer. A most innovative and successful program is the product of our Bureau of Criminal Investigation, (B.C.I.). The drug intervention program focuses on the problem, not on statistics. Sure, we can temporarily make a difference when we stop the supply of drugs, and we continue to do that work. However, when we can stop the demand, we are addressing the whole problem. To learn more of B.C.I.'s program click here Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
