Reference no: EM131372563

Assignment: Capstone Project

Guidelines

• Understand that you will be creating a police department during this program, but you will be measured on your skills of applying what you have learned during your educational program. The principles that you will be researching and implementing are the same principles applied if you were to be developing a new correctional facility, court system, parole or probation system, or other related criminal justice agency.

• Each student is encouraged to set up times for "Chat Sessions" with other students in order to discuss issues and project progress. Each student should be electronically present at the time of the chat session presentation, to discuss your proposal.
Proposal to Create a Police Department-Background Information

• You have recently been appointed as the Chief of Police of a newly incorporated city within the State of Florida. The city was chartered to operate under the Council-Manager form of government. The City Commission is comprised of five members, Mayor-Commissioner and four City Commissioners, elected to specific areas at large. The City Commission appoints a professional City Manager who serves as the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Executive Officer of the City. As the Chief of Police, you are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the City Manager.

• The incorporated city consists of fifty (50) square land miles with ten (10) square miles of navigable waterways. The permanent population of the city is one hundred thousand with an additional daily tourist population of approximately twenty-five thousand. The racial make-up of the permanent population is 80% white, 14% black, and 6% other. The per- capita income is twenty-seven thousand dollars. The population median age is forty-three. The unemployment rate is 5.6%. Within the city there is a school enrollment of eleven thousand students. Prior to incorporation as a city, the Sheriff's Office provided all police services to the area.

• During the incorporation process an agreement was reached with the Sheriff to obtain the building his agency used as a precinct to service the area currently within the city. The student can assume that this building is satisfactory for housing the new Police Department for several years to come. The building also contains a functional communication center with adequate equipment to include portable radios for all police officers.

• Fully equipped police cruisers, both marked and unmarked, were also obtained from the Sheriff. Therefore as the new Chief of our new city, you need not be concerned about the above mentioned issues.

• For informational purposes, last year within the area incorporated into the city, the Sheriff's Office handled 175,000 calls for service. Deputies wrote 41,000 original reports and 21,300 supplemental reports. They investigated 3,021 automobile accidents and wrote 63,099 traffic citations. Deputies made 9,128 criminal arrests including 501 arrests for DUI. They also responded to 5,318 burglary and robbery alarms.

Proposal to Create a Police Department-Actual Assignment

• Your assignment is to establish a police department for our yet to be named city. You will also be responsible to name the agency.

• As a newly created police department, you do not have a police union involved. The actual budget for your police department must not exceed $30 million dollars.

• You are to employ the number of personnel you need to deliver professional and competent police services to the citizens of our city. You must determine the number of sworn (officers) and non-sworn (civilian) personnel you will hire, inclusive of any minimum standards you wish to implement; you can choose any states' Police Standards to follow, but you must meet or exceed those that are established. If you are using a particular state's requirements, you must identify that state. Salaries and benefits must be established and justified within your proposal. A brief job description must also be prepared for the various classifications of employees; e.g. police officer, communication operator, desk officer, property clerk, detective, secretarial staff, etc.

• Your proposal should begin with a "Mission Statement" and proceed with a clear and concise "Description of Services" that your department will provide. You must determine the various divisions, sections, and units that will be required to effectively accomplish your intended mission. For each division and subsequent sub-unit established, you will cite the responsibilities of each, including specific performance indicators. Within your proposal, the city manager has asked you to submit an organizational chart for the entire department, along with separate organizational charts for the various divisions you have recommended.

• It is imperative that you provide a detailed budget for your entire department. It is recommended that you begin with a line-item format and proceed into a zero-based, performance indicator format. For the purpose of this project, the following costs have already been calculated for you:

o Complete benefits package=$2,000 per sworn employee, $1,300 per non-sworn employee
o Motor vehicle fuel=Bulk rate @ $2.90 per gallon
o Weapons and Uniforms=$1,000 per officer

• You are expected to personally submit your proposal for the new city police department, inclusive of all aspects of your budge to the city council for their approval. You must be prepared to thoroughly defend your proposal. Additionally, you can be certain that you will experience intensive questioning by the city manager.

• There is no specific length for your paper, but it must thoroughly address all of the issues involved with the creation of a model police department. If you determine the need for a Policy and Procedure Manual for the police department, it will be necessary to document how the system will operate and what General Orders, Rules and Regulations, or Standard Operating Procedures are necessary. NOTE: It is not necessary to draft actual General Orders and Rules and Regulations, but you must identify the categories (example: Sick Leave, Vehicle Usage, Informant Handling, Confidential Funds, etc). Make sure your list is complete!

• In developing a modern and progressive police agency, there exists a need to consider state of the art computer technology for overall efficiency. Just as important is the need to consider implementing innovative policing programs that provide personalized services while keeping in touch with the concerns of the community.

• Your proposal should discuss the concept of community based policing and the feasibility of incorporating this type of program within the police department. Problem-oriented policing and differential police response should also be addressed. Additionally, the civilianization of certain traditional sworn positions should also be considered; i.e. front desk officer, forensic specialists, victim advocates, etc.

• Another consideration is if the proposal should include an investigative division. Will the investigators specialize in specific criminal investigation categories or will they be generalist and available for any type of assignment? You must identify their responsibility and determine if there will be a case-management system for follow-up investigations.

• In order to effectively address the requirements of this assignment, you are expected to research the various issues identified above, along with any other issues that may arise in the preparation of this proposal.

• Finally, when considering your personnel requirement, please consider the concept of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity.