Durham Police Department

STRATEGIC PLAN
Key Customers

Core Products and Services

Enforce Law
o Investigate Crime
o Make Arrests
o Clear Crimes
o Records Management
Crime Prevention
o Community engagement,
o Personal safety education
o Crisis intervention
o Potential perpetrator intervention
Community Emergency Response

Residents
Business and Industry
Visitors
Other Government Entities
Higher Education Institutions

Mission Statement
To minimize crime, promote safety, and enhance the quality of life in partnership with our community.

Strengths

Personnel (Quality, Professionalism)

o Commitment to the job
(enthusiastic, hardworking)
Training (Academy, PTO, continuing ed.)
Cooperation & Relationships in Dept.
Partnerships with other agencies/Outside
Agency Outreach and Collaboration
Technology (MDTs, ICC, etc.)
Professional Development (advancement)
o Advancement Opportunities
Accreditation
Community involvement, services, and
partnerships

Weaknesses

Inadequately promoting Department

successes and accomplishments
Inter-division information sharing can be
enhanced
Message flow from the top of command
to line staff needs to be enhanced
Media relations shortcomings

Opportunities

Training
o FBI, National Academy of
Leadership Development
Build & strengthen relationships with local
& regional Law enforcement agencies
Mental Health Facilities/ Hospitals/Health
care agencies
Community Involvement
Grant

Challenges

Educating the public

Community expectations of security
services
Money /Lack of resources
Under-equipped
Deferred Maintenance of buildings is low
priority and slow to implement
PD understaffed
Public trust of PD is perceived to be low
Public Perceptions/Misperceptions
Judicial/Court System
Loss of community social service
programs

Goals, Objectives, Measures, and Initiatives

Well Managed City
Provide professional management that is accountable, efficient, and transparent.

Objectives and Measures

Objective: Effectively recruit, train and retain well
qualified and diverse employees
Measures:
% of applicants who achieve a passing score in
each promotion cycle
% of cadets completing Academy and Field
Training
% of Sworn Patrol Officers certified in target
categories
% of recruit individuals invited to apply each
testing cycle
Average sworn vacancy rate
# of officers/employees receiving the Citys
Language Incentive
% of officers living within the City limits

Initiatives
Expand training opportunities to provide
training in media relations, public
relations, diversity training, and mental
health issues and crisis intervention
Inventory and evaluate the Training Units
educational material to ensure that the
best training materials and practices are
being utilized
Contract for a wage bypass study to
determine if the Department provides
equitable wages to in order to retain well
qualified employees
Educate employees on the many
counseling services available to officers
and employees of the DPD
Develop a standardized internship
program to introduce qualified individuals
to the varying aspects of law enforcement
Develop a comprehensive recruitment
plan that outlines multiple approaches for
officer recruitment, including online and
social media recruitment, specified event
recruitment, and recruitment within
Durhams diverse ethnic and cultural
communities
Evaluate best practices for increasing the
number of officers living within Durham
City Limits

Objective: Increase Departmental transparency through Restructure the Public Information Unit to
better communication
incorporate a full-time Public Information
Unit Manager to increase information
Measures:
dissemination and improve media and
community relations
% of media inquiries acknowledged within 24
Create a Comprehensive Communications
hours
Plan that clearly describes the internal,
% increase in social media followers
and external, communication policies and
# of self-initiated and submitted stories to the
practices of the DPD
news media that highlight Durham PD activities
Educate the public on community services
opportunities for engagement with
neighborhoods, schools, and youth

Objective: Increase the publics trust in the Durham

Police Department
Measures:
% of residents who believe the Durham Police
Department is doing a good job protecting and
serving Durham Residents
% of residents who believe the Durham Police
Department is working closely with the
community
% of residents that feel personally safe in
Durham
# of community events participated in by the
DPD command staff
# of Neighborhoods participating in National
Night Out

Encourage attendance in the Citizens

Police Academy (CPA) by placing more
emphasis on promoting the CPA via local
newspapers, DPD website, social media,
etc.
Create a Citizens digest of all the
Community Services programs and
outreach activities provided by the
Durham Police Department
Improve internal communication by
utilizing new software platforms that will
monitor and track employee training,
improve document management, enhance
accreditation compliance, and provide for
employee opinion surveys
Conduct a Citizen Satisfaction Survey that
focuses exclusively on the DPD including
measures related to safety, trust, and
community engagement
Review Departmental policies to ensure
best practices in complaint procedures
Review traffic stop data to determine if
unexplainable statistical disparities exists
Develop procedures for the Neighborhood
Watch programs that will help foster
lasting participation in this program as well
as in the National Night Out Initiative
Implement electronic complaint forms that
allow for electronic completion,
submission and tracking of complaints
Develop and/or attend training classes on
effective outreach and community
engagement techniques to help build and
maintain community partnerships
Develop and/or attend training classes on
racial equity and understanding racial and
cultural differences
Utilize state-of-the-art video technology to
capture officer/citizen interaction

Goals, Objectives, Measures, and Initiatives

Safe and Secure Community
Provide safe and secure neighborhoods which are fundamental to the quality of life and economic
vitality of the city.

Objectives and Measures

Objective: Meet response time standards to maximize
resident and officer safety
Measures:
Average response time for Priority 1 calls
% of P1 calls answered in less than 5.8 Minutes
% of beats not meeting the 5.8 minute standard
% of calls with a hold time of less than 90
seconds.
Objective: Reduce incident rates
Measure:
# of robberies per 100,000 citywide
# of burglaries per 100,000 citywide
# of Vehicle thefts citywide
% of Aggravated Assaults involving a firearm with
2 or more victims
# of Larceny from vehicles citywide
# Repeat call locations
% Change in Burglary and Part 1 crimes in
Residential Awareness Program area during the
90 day program
Property Crime Clearance Rates
Violent Crime Clearance Rate

Objective: Provide Enhanced Traffic/Pedestrian/Bicycle

Safety
Measures:
# of alcohol related crashes
# of injury crashes
# of total crashes
# of pedestrian injuries

Initiatives
Use assessing software analytics to review
and determine the appropriateness of the
beat structure
Review the shift schedule to ensure the
appropriate allocation of resources to
match call volume and calls for service
Utilize online crime incident reporting
software to enable citizens to report nonpriority 1 issues via Police website
Transition the Records Management
System of crime data reporting from UCR
format to NIBRS format to comply with
new Federal standards
Continue to develop and expand
targeted patrol operations for specific
areas based on recent crime data
Re-evaluate the need for community
services in an identified Residential
Awareness Program neighborhood (RAP)
Continue to have Violent Incident
Response Team (VIRT) develop
deployment areas identifying where
potential gang retaliation is expected
Develop new, and evaluate existing,
educational programs regarding vehicle
theft and prevention techniques
Perform a Resource Allocation Study to
evaluate if certain operational programs
are utilizing resources effectively
Implement a pilot program for all citation
data to be entered into the Record
Management System
Utilize an intersection hotspot list that
continually identifies and updates
intersection crash data
Develop educational program/materials
on pedestrian/bicycle safety
Design and implement enforcement
operations for neighborhood crosswalks