December begins many yearly rituals for us, both personally and professionally. Personally, we start to prepare our households for the holidays. We plan family gatherings, begin Christmas shopping for loved ones, and, if still working patrol, look to see if we finally have enough seniority to get at least Christmas Eve or Christmas Day off. Professionally, we dust off old ops plans that detail heightened retail parking lot patrol, extra shifts in concentrated shopping areas and a multitude of public service announcements geared at helping our communities and businesses not fall victim to the usual up-tick in “holiday crimes”—thefts, shoplifts, purse snatches and burglaries.
But this time of year also prompts us to take a few moments and not only reflect back on the year of things that happened which we cannot change, but more importantly, it gives us the opportunity to look forward and consider the things we can.
I have the honor of serving with the fine men and women of the Folsom (Calif.) Police Department as their chief. Folsom is the eastern-most city in Sacramento County, and we are a full-service Police Department of just over 100 members, providing all law enforcement services to a community of 82,000 from the first 911 call, to a SWAT call-out, if needed. Our city is poised to grow substantially with the recent finalization of a land annexation and development process. In the next five years, we will build a police substation in the newer part of the city and add substantially to our population and to our department.
A look back at 2017 for us shows a year of victories, dangers and heartaches. We worked hard to substantially reduce our crime rate in 2017 as compared to 2016. We were proud to continue our active participation with the newly-formed Sacramento County Family Justice Center, as we work to end crimes of family violence. Our SWAT team engaged in a dangerous fire-fight to successfully end a stand-off with a barricaded suspect, thereby returning safety to a neighborhood. We assisted the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department during more than one critical incident that left their deputies injured from gunfire. We stood with them at the funeral service mourning the senseless murder of Deputy French, while feeling the indescribable relief that comes with knowing the two California Highway Patrol Officers shot during the same incident will both recover from their wounds. We connected with our community through a variety of out-reach efforts and we continued to work with our youth through after-school fitness programs.
So what does 2018 bring for us? Well, it will certainly bring crime. But it will also bring opportunity. It will bring the opportunity to test new technologies that help interdict criminal enterprise; the opportunity to continue providing training and equipment that will keep our officers prepared for what they face in the field; the opportunity to reach past our high schools and into our middle schools to really impact “at-risk” youth before they become “unreachable” youth; and the opportunity to continue the trusted relationship we enjoy with our community.
2018 will also bring with it the opportunity to continue working with our Fire Department on joint Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) response. Specifically, we will begin training in the Rescue Task Force concept, enabling combined entry into an area so medics can begin treating patients and officers can continue responding to the threat. In 2017, we began the training and integration of three Folsom Fire Department Paramedics onto our SWAT team, and in 2018, we will continue the integration with an additional three.
I’ll stop here, because I could go on for pages with what the Folsom Police Department will look to focus on in 2018. And while those few topics mentioned above are specific to our organization, I believe a similar story is being told in yours. Because no matter what the specific focus area is, it all comes down to each and every one of us in this profession looking to better serve our communities, better protect our officers out there doing the job every day, better serve as role models to our youth, better partner with our communities and better—well, just better—this profession we all so proudly give our best, daily efforts to in the service of others.
From the Folsom Police Department to yours, we want to thank you for the job you do for your communities every day and wish you Godspeed in providing them the best service of tomorrow. Stay safe, and see you in 2018!
