A Message from Chief Darrel Broussard
Members of the department are asked to serve the citizens with the same respect
as they, themselves, would like to be received.
Distrust of the government may also mean that the police are less likely
to be called when crimes occur.
Many citizens in our community have been faced with economic hardships, such as
the loss of jobs at major employers in our community.
Along with lost jobs, one can expect certain types of crimes to be
affected. For example, theft and
burglary calls sometime increase when people seek illegal ways to get money when
not working. Unfortunately, many
police departments are likely to be seriously understaffed at this time due to
budget restraints. As a police
department we want to partner up with citizens to create a healthy and safe
community. It has been shown that
closer social ties between the police and their community build a more
responsive police-citizen relationship.
An excellent example would be to encourage more citizens to participate
in the “Ride Along Program”.
Positive public relations are important for the betterment of the community and
for the success of its local police department.
We want to encourage and be supportive of the youth of our community who want to
join the ranks of becoming a Police Officer.
Hopefully, positive peer pressure will guide others too want to join, and
be role models. Some officers have
planned to have after-school educational training to assist parents before it is
too late, and kids drop out of school; which happens to often in this community.
Officers have said, they want to encourage the younger people to join the
military, school bands, cub scouts, and other sports activities.
Each member of the department has expressed their willingness to
participate in community service activities in order to give back to their
community. Through community
policing efforts, it has been proven that pro-active police departments can
positively impact many lives; when they truly have the drive to do so.
We, as a department, have set goals to attend civic group meetings and
share topics on juvenile concerns.
We want to attract and encourage our youth to stay and work in our community
(many have moved to other towns).
Moving away weakens the tax base of our own community and does not generate new
growth of homes or businesses. When
youth are thriving in our community, the community tends to stay vibrant.
Recreation is also a key component in a zestful community.
With safe neighborhoods, parks, schools, and a reduction in crime stats in
Cleveland, I believe we can make progress toward improving the total image of
this city.
Department
Objectives:
Maintain Optimum staffing levels; reduce officer turnover rate.
Hire additional Officers; identify locations known for crime. Additional
staffing will afford the patrol division more opportunities to take a proactive
approach in addressing these areas and reducing crime.
Re-initiate the Reserve Officers Program to assist with combating crime and to
help with staffing.
Improve equipment availability; purchase additional cameras and assign cameras
to individual officers to improve accountability. This will also assist with
evidence security and successful prosecution.
Continue to add additional equipment in a timely manner to replace aging/
outdated equipment.
Acquire relevant/ appropriate training that will benefit our department as well
as the community.
Encourage Officers and Detectives who attend off-site training to bring back
knowledge to share with all members of the department.
All Officers shall strive to reach higher certifications through TCLEOSE.
Crime Prevention must be taught to the citizens of our community in order to
educate them about new and illegal trends and scams, so that they do not become
victims.
Command staff will motivate, and support officers in order to meet their goals.
Sincerely,
Darrel Broussard
Chief of Police