FROM THE NET WORKS NEWSLETTER, SPRING 2011, VOL. 27, NO. 2
The police department works closely with residents to ensure public safety in Savage, Minnesota (pop. 27,000), a southern suburb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
“We have a great relationship with Savage’s mayor, city council, and city administrator — they’re all pro public safety,” said Chief Rodney Seurer of the Savage, Minnesota, Police Department. “The public love our programs: A recent survey, taken in Savage, showed that 96% of those surveyed had positive associations with public safety. We were very excited about how pleased they were with our services. I’m so lucky to work in a community that supports its police department.”
Multiple Sources for Multiple Answers
The Savage Police Department is a member of IACP Net, which offers access to multiple services for law enforcement executives, giving them opportunities to attack challenges from many different angles.
Chief Seurer uses the Core Database, Policies Database, and the Quest-ResponseSM service for departmental research. In May 2011, the department used IACP Net as a main resource in researching and developing “Take It to the Box,” a safe medication disposal program. “For another example, we needed a field training manual for sergeants and managers. I was able to use IACP Net to develop a supervisor’s manual and a field training program that is used today in our succession planning,” said the chief.
“It’s really amazing; we’re networking with individual police departments that we never would have connected with before,” said the chief. “For example, I like a lot of the things that the Jupiter, Florida, Police Department are doing and have accomplished. We were able to extract specific information from their policies and procedures on IACP Net and put together a viable product.”
Chief Seurer thinks it’s important to take the time to share information as well as research it. “I’ll send our department policies to other law enforcement executives through the Quest-Response service,” he added. “I do a lot of research, find out who is asking the same questions we are, and follow up when I can.”
“We use IACP Net almost daily,” he added.
Boost Efficiency and Beat Budget Woes
Like many departments, the biggest issue facing the Savage Police Department is budgeting. Chief Seurer knows that IACP Net’s efficiency streamlines the department’s research efforts, thereby reducing costs. “It’s an invaluable resource — information at the tip of your fingers,” said the chief. “If an officer were doing research on the phone with unknown departments, it would take many more hours to get the information. I was able to sell IACP Net to our city administrator as an efficient and effective tool for great research, saving time and money and having law enforcement information at your fingertips.”
Although Savage’s crime rate has gone down by 10%, the community still has a significant problem with fraud and identity theft. “I had planned to hire four additional staff — including an investigator to assist with fraud and identity theft — but couldn’t because of the reduced budget,” said Chief Seurer. “We’re able to get work done, but we’re not able to implement additional, vital programs for the community. With that said, the decrease of reportable crime statistics reinforces the importance of our community partnerships, partnerships with IACP Net, and our crime initiatives that we have created and sustained.”
Regardless, Chief Seurer knows that through tight budgets and tough research questions, IACP Net will be there. “IACP Net has just been a great resource for our department,” he said. “I’m pleased that we have IACP Net.”
