The Cape Coral Police Department, in its endeavor to ensure a safe and secure community in which to live, work and recreate, has created an approach to the delivery of police services called COPSTAR. COPSTAR, an acronym for Community Oriented Policing Strategic Tracking Analysis & Reporting, is a delivery of police services approach whereby the Cape Coral Police Department has the ability to effectively direct appropriate resources toward crime, social disorder and decay. This is accomplished by focusing on crime and the conditions that adversely affect the quality of life of our residents, through effective use of crime intelligence, crime analysis and delegation of authority. COPSTAR ultimately creates accountability for all department members in fulfilling their responsibilities to reduce crime and address the other activities that have an impact on the quality of life.

COPSTAR brings together the issues of crime, disorder, and quality of life concerns and introduces computer mapping utilizing a Geographic Information System (GIS). The GIS provides a wealth of information on a variety of issues, including address histories, the tracking of known criminals, and more. This information is provided to commanding officers who analyze the data and determine tactics, resource allocations and decisive actions. Commanders are required to think strategically by employing methods that have a proven record of accomplishment.

The COPSTAR approach is the Cape Coral Police Department’s formula to provide the City of Cape Coral the highest quality of police services by utilizing its resources in an efficient and effective manner.

COPSTAR Background

COPSTAR is the Cape Coral Police Department’s (CCPD) version of the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) successful and renowned CompStat (Computerized Statistics) program. CompStat was developed by NYPD as a strategy that employs a results-oriented approach by its managers to reduce crime and better serve its constituents.

As a means to increase the flow of information between its executive staff and the commanders of operational units, NYPD began conducting weekly Crime Control Strategy Meetings. The meetings serve as a forum in which command level personnel communicate the problems they face to the agency’s top executives and share their successful crime reduction tactics with other commanders. From these meetings, NYPD administrators developed principles for reducing crime and strategies for actually carrying out the reduction of crime.
The meetings were a presentation of computer generated data consisting of a summary of crime complaints, arrests, summons activity, summary of significant cases, crime patterns and police activities. Commanders and managers were able to discern patterns, trends, or anomalies from the presentations. They were held accountable to develop effective problem solving strategies. Because of the CompStat process, New York City experienced a significant reduction in crime.

Purpose of COPSTAR

With respect to the renowned success of CompStat and similarly developed programs among other law enforcement agencies, the Cape Coral Police Department has developed its own version (COPSTAR) as a process that ensures the development of effective crime control strategies based upon intelligence-rooted policing principles.

COPSTAR is a significant part of a comprehensive interactive management strategy that enhances accountability while providing commanders with discretion and the resources necessary to properly manage their commands. It also ensures that they remain apprised of the crime and quality of life conditions within their areas of responsibility and that the department’s goals and objectives are fully implemented throughout the agency.

It also affords an opportunity for commanders to communicate the problems they face in meeting the department’s mission to the agency’s top executives and share their successful crime and quality of life enforcement improvement strategies with other commanders.

Pertinent Goals in Support of COPSTAR

To incorporate the principles of community and problem oriented policing into the everyday duties of the employees and to work closely with residents of Cape Coral in ways to solve the problems of crime, fear of crime, physical and social disorder and neighborhood decay.

Vision Statement

In keeping with our commitment to meeting the intent of the COPSTAR process outlined above, the components of the Cape Coral Police Department’s vision statement are discussed. The model for implementation of long-range strategies such as COPSTAR is based on commitment to four essential components:

• Customer Orientation

Organizational understanding of the belief that the Cape Coral Police Department is “customer driven” in that we recognize the value of working with our citizenry to resolve crime and social disorder problems. That their input into how we address those problems and devise strategies to resolve them is paramount in our collective effort to live up to the tenets of our mission statement.

• Human Resource Excellence

The Cape Coral Police Department hires, maintains and develops highly motivated personnel. Our commitment to our citizenry cannot be met successfully if we do not utilize the talent of our personnel. Consequently, the Cape Coral Police Department’s ability to deliver quality law enforcement services in all their forms will be significantly enhanced if we provide our personnel with the education and training to hone those skills and the support to use them for the betterment of Cape Coral.

• Service and Process Leadership

This statement embodies our intent to achieve excellence in policing through utilization of strategic planning and implementation strategies designed to reinforce our commitment to outcome as opposed to output - “Busy with a purpose”. In other words, the Cape Coral Police Department exists to make Cape Coral a safe community and development of statistics is a means to achieving that end, not an end in themselves.

• Management Leadership

This statement endears itself to the principle of “leadership by support.” It manifests itself in the idea that our executives, mid-managers and supervisors have the necessary authority and accountability to utilize the resources to develop knowledge of what the problems are, where and when they are occurring, develop strategies to resolve them and follow through to successful resolution.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to promote and maintain an atmosphere of safety and security within our community through highly skilled employees dedicated to the protection of constitutional guarantees, maintenance of order and safeguarding of life and property.

The COPSTAR/Crime Reduction Process

The process meets the intent of our strategic planning initiative by allowing top executives to:

• Carefully monitor issues and activities throughout the department
• Evaluate the skills and effectiveness of middle managers and first line supervisors
• Properly allocate resources necessary to reduce crime and enhance the quality of life of residents and visitors
• Improve police performance and effectiveness
  

Basic COPSTAR Principles

1. Accurate and timely intelligence

If police are to respond effectively to crime and criminal events, officers at all levels of the organization must have:

• Accurate knowledge of when particular types of crimes are occurring
• How and where the crimes are being committed
• Who the criminals are

The likelihood of an effective police response to crime increases proportionately as the accuracy of this criminal intelligence increases.

2. Effective Tactics

Effective tactics are responsibly designed to bring about the desired result of crime reduction. They are developed after studying and analyzing the information developed from accurate and timely crime intelligence. In order to avoid merely displacing crime and quality of life problems, and in order to bring about permanent change, these tactics must be comprehensive, flexible and adaptable to the shifting crime trends we identify and monitor.

3. Rapid deployment of personnel and resources

Once a tactical plan has been developed, an array of personnel and other necessary resources are promptly deployed. Although some tactical plans might only involve Patrol personnel, experience has proven that most effective plans require that personnel from several units and enforcement functions work together as a team to address the problem.

A viable and comprehensive response to a crime and quality of life problem generally demands that Patrol officers, community policing officers (District Resource Coordinators and Business Resource Coordinators), detectives, and support personnel combine their expertise and resources in a coordinated effort.

4. Relentless follow-up and assessment

As in any problem-solving endeavor, an on-going process of rigorous follow-up and assessment is absolutely essential to ensure that the desired results are actually being achieved. This evaluation component also allows for the assessment of the viability of particular tactical responses for similar problems in the future. The follow-up and assessment process further provides for the redeployment of resources in order to meet newly identified challenges once a problem is abated.

COPSTAR reports and the monthly strategy meetings, accompanied by the intense assessment of problems based upon timely intelligence and crime analysis information and the vigorous employment of these principles of crime reduction and quality of life enhancement strategies at every level of the organization, all function to facilitate a management strategy which has delegated authority, responsibility, and discretion downward to the operational level.

On a weekly and a monthly basis, the department’s crime analyst prepares a statistical summary of crime complaints, arrests and summons activity, crime patterns, and police activities. This data, which includes specific times and locations that the crimes and enforcement actions occurred, is compiled for weekly and monthly computer generated reports.

The weekly and monthly COPSTAR reports are disseminated department-wide. The reports capture crime complaint and arrest activity by district, by patrol area, and citywide. The reports present the data with comparisons to previous months and years activity. District commanders and department executive staff can easily discern emerging and established crime trends as well as deviations and anomalies, and can straightforwardly make comparisons between patrol areas, units, and districts.

Operational Levels of COPSTAR

1. The police chief and executive staff empower and evaluate the district commanders’ strategies and outcomes, requiring them to present a plan to attack crime and social disorder conditions and to measure results.

2. District commanders empower their subordinates to develop and implement strategies and outcomes regarding crime and the social conditions leading to crime, and ensure that those strategies are effectively implemented and followed up.

3. Watch commanders reporting to the district commanders ensure that the mission and policies of the department are met, and that sergeants and their subordinate personnel direct their best efforts toward effective implementation of COPSTAR strategies.

4. Sergeants are held accountable for communicating and working with their assigned personnel to define strategies and develop crime and social disorder control measures for various conditions.

5. Support unit managers and supervisors are held accountable for ensuring that their assigned personnel work in total support of the goals of COPSTAR and strategic long-range goals and objectives.

What, When and Who Attends?

1. Weekly Focus Meetings

• What – weekly focus meetings are designed to provide recent information in order to address issues in a timely manner. The meetings also provide input for the monthly COPSTAR meeting.
• When - every Tuesday
• Who Attends – bureau commanders, supervisors, line officers, and others as needed.
  

2. Monthly COPSTAR Meetings

• What – in addition to what has already been outlined, bear in mind that this approach is intended to foster a team approach to problem solving. It also ensures that crime and quality of life problems identified at these meetings can be immediately discussed and quickly addressed through the development and implementation of creative and comprehensive solutions. Because ranking decision-makers are present at these meetings and can immediately make decisions about committing their resources, the obstacles and delays that often occur in highly structured traditional organizations tend to be minimized. It is also important to note that the monthly COPSTAR meetings focus on a broader spectrum than crime and disorder. The process provides an excellent forum for discussing organizational performance of all department entities.
• When – second Thursday of every month
• Who Attends – attendance is mandatory for all personnel at or above the rank of sergeant, as well as non-sworn supervisors, district & business resource coordinators and the crime analyst. All other department personnel are encouraged to attend.
  

Appendix I

Accurate and Timely Intelligence

If police are to respond effectively to crime and criminal events, officers at all levels must have accurate knowledge of when particular types of crimes are occurring, how and when they are being committed and who is committing them. The likelihood of an effective police response to crime increases proportionately as the accuracy of the criminal intelligence increases. Specifically, personnel at all levels need to know and are accountable for knowing:

• What kind of crime is occurring (e.g. forcible sex offenses, burglaries, thefts, etc.)
• Where crime is occurring (e.g. specific locales and addresses, etc.)
• When crime is occurring (e.g. day of week, time of day, etc.)
• Why crime is occurring (e.g. drug related, domestic, unoccupied homes, etc.)

The COPSTAR process requires that executives, operational commanders and supervisors ensure that crime information is:

• Gathered constantly
• Analyzed quickly and accurately
• Distributed to commanders and personnel who require this information
• Acted upon rapidly and effectively

Appendix II

Effective Tactics (Managerial Strategy)

Strategy is the process by which we respond to environmental conditions such as crime, disorder, citizen demand, public safety and/or training of employees. It must consider the critical managerial issue of how to achieve performance objectives in light of our situation and resources.

Objectives are the end and strategy is the means of achieving the end. Our strategy should unite executive, operational commanders, supervisors, and employees’ decisions and actions into a coordinated and compatible pattern. As such, a strategy is both proactive (intended) and reactive (adaptive). Hence, it can be a combination of planned actions or on the spot reactions that changes unanticipated conditions.

COPSTAR executives, operational commanders and supervisors are empowered with the authority to develop clear and effective tactics to address crime conditions. These tactics must also be flexible. Commanders and supervisors must be ready to change their plans when crime conditions change. The COPSTAR process provides information that enables us to identify where tactics must be developed and to track the progress of tactics that are implemented. COPSTAR requires that all executives, commanders and supervisors be accountable for:

• Quality of their plans
• Quality of their efforts toward crime reduction
• Their managerial oversight of operations
• Results

Appendix III

Rapid Focus Deployment of Personnel and Resources

Once a strategy has been developed, commanders have the authority to use an array of personnel and other necessary resources to achieve their objectives. Although some strategies might only involve patrol personnel, experience has proven that the most effective strategies require that personnel from several units and enforcement functions work together as a team to address the problem. A viable and comprehensive response to a crime or quality of life issue generally demands that patrol personnel, investigators and support personnel bring their expertise and resources together in a coordinated effort.

This COPSTAR principle considers the Cape Coral Police Department as being one large team, not individual power centers competing for resources. The empowered operational commander has the authority to coordinate the efforts of line and support personnel. For example, this may call for the development of a task force with personnel from different units or outside agencies to address a specific problem. The primary objective is to accomplish the tactical objective and stabilize the conditions that created the incidents that required police action, using whatever operational resources available.

Operational resources may include:

• Operational personnel
• Investigative personnel
• Sworn and non-sworn personnel
• District & Business Resource Coordinators
• State Attorney’s Office
• Other law enforcement agencies
• Community partnerships
• Community leaders
• Health or government agencies
• Other City of Cape Coral departments

Appendix IV

Relentless Follow-Up and Assessment

As in any problem-solving endeavor, an ongoing process of rigorous follow-up and assessment is absolutely essential to ensure that the desired results are actually being achieved. Executive as well as operational commanders must constantly follow-up on what is being done and assess the results.

Evaluation permits the assessment of the viability of particular strategic responses and to incorporate the knowledge gained into subsequent strategic development efforts. By knowing how well a particular strategy worked on a particular crime or quality of life problem, and by knowing which specific elements of the tactical response worked most effectively, we will be better able to construct and implement effective responses for similar problems in the future.

The follow-up and assessment process also permits the redeployment of resources to meet newly identified challenges once a problem has abated. Executives, operational commanders and supervisors follow-up on tactics and deployment by:

• Practicing MBWA (Management By Walking Around) – getting out of the office and seeing what conditions and operations are really like
• Reviewing crime reports daily
• Paying special attention to serious crime reports (e.g. shootings, burglaries, etc.)
• Paying special attention to serious situations that can create a public safety risk (e.g. high crash locations)
• Reviewing crime analysis materials (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)
• Discussing crime conditions with operational personnel on a daily basis
• Frequently discussing specific cases and crime or safety conditions with unit commanders and key personnel

Executives and operational commanders hold crime strategy meetings (COPSTAR meetings) on a monthly basis. During these meetings department executives:

• Review the crime statistics of each command
• Review material pertinent to safety and security of residents
• Ask questions about current cases of interest, crime or accident patterns and other situations or issues requiring attention
• Request that commanders forward specific reports or other information to higher levels of command showing what measures were taken to act on a specific case or address a specific crime or public safety pattern or situation
• Ask follow-up questions about cases, crime or public safety patterns, or situations that were mentioned at previous meetings (minutes are taken at all meetings so that proper follow-up can be prepared and provided).
  

The COPSTAR process is a tool for relentless follow-up and assessment because it allows agency executives and commanders at all levels to see their results every month and change tactics and deployment as needed on what they see and know.

SUMMARY

It should be understood that COPSTAR is a philosophy involving the evaluation and accountability in the delivery of effective police services that will continue to evolve over time. It increases the commitment to community oriented policing by enhancing quality. It requires every employee in the Cape Coral Police Department to become a participant with a vested interest in improvement. The benefits to the agency, its employees and the people it serves have enormous potential. COPSTAR is about making a positive impact to change the way the Cape Coral Police Department delivers its police services.