Citizen Advisory Groups, composed of a cross-section of the community members, will be created to optimize positive contact between the Sheriff’s Office and communities we serve. The Sheriff’s Office will collaborate with these community groups to preserve the peace and protect property by delivering services when and where the community requires them. Additionally, these groups provide a forum for joint planning and information exchange to prevent possible acts that jeopardize peace and prosperity within the community.

Defining the community or communities is one of the first steps in developing these community-policing partnerships. Once these areas are defined, we must be willing to empower the citizens of those communities to determine what is best for them, instead of merely delivering the services we believe best.

Strategic planning and review are essential to a successful implementation. Measurement of success will be arrived at by mutual consent between the Sheriff’s Office and the communities we serve. Strategic plans will address community problems individually in a systematic way, rather than a broad plan that attempts to solve all its problems. There will be well-defined methods for solving each problem before or as it arises.

Use of the SARA (Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment) model will be encouraged. Scanning is the process of identifying major problem areas. This identification can be by members of our office, citizens, or other agencies. Analysis involves gathering information from any and all sources and analyzing it. Response is the process of taking the appropriate action, based upon scanning and analysis. Finally, assessment is the evaluation of the response to determine its degree of success, and need for improvement, if any.

The goal of these Citizen Advisory Groups working with the Sheriff’s Office will be to reduce crime and the fear of crime and to improve the quality of life within the communities we serve.