Community Policing Effort Wins Recognition
The Police Department’s community policing program was recognized this week by the U.S. Department of Justice as one of the most successful models in the country.
More than 9,000 police agencies were recently examined by federal officials to see how they benefited from money received under a 1994 crime bill intended to help put 100,000 new officers on the nation’s streets.
Santa Ana was one of seven departments credited in the study with effectively using neighborhood policing strategies to put more criminals in jail and reduce crime, including gang-related homicides.
“We’ve always gotten positive feedback about our community policing program, but this recognition really says something,” Chief Paul M. Walters said.
The department has 15 officers assigned to the Community Policing Task Force, a team that originally emerged in the 1970s, when federal grants were given to five U.S. cities to study neighborhood policing for the first time.
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