Citation
Carter II, J.W. (2011), "Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 34 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2011.18134baa.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program
Article Type: Policing on the web From: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Volume 34, Issue 2
In 1997, recognizing that over 85 per cent of police agencies in the United States serve populations of 50,000 citizens or less, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance teamed up to create the Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program. This program offers a wealth of resources and training opportunities to those agencies that comprise the largest portion of the IACP's membership. The Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program can be accessed via its website at its rather lengthy URL: http://www.theiacp.org/PublicationsGuides/ResearchCenter/Projects/SmallerPoliceDepartmentTechnicalAssistancePro/tabid/311/Default.aspx
The program offers a great deal of resources for new chiefs of police. For example, the Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program offers a mentoring program for new chiefs of police. Also offered are a guide for the newly appointed chief of police, “The Police Chief’s Desk Reference” and a detailed guide for obtaining free resources including IACP materials, a variety of grants and funding opportunities and programs offering free training, software and/or other resources of interest to the chief of a smaller law enforcement agency.
The Smaller Law enforcement Agency Program offers a wealth of training opportunities for police chiefs and officers alike on a wide variety of topics. These training opportunities are offered tuition-free and cover such topics as personnel management, discipline without punishment, building trust, hiring of candidates and many other such issues.
Finally, the program offers a wide array of miscellaneous guides and documents (available online or as a hard copy) that would be of interest to chiefs of smaller agencies. For example, the program offers a guide for creating survey instruments for use internally and the community, and a host of best practice guides. In addition to the resources above, the program also offers a quarterly newsletter focusing on the issues faced by smaller law enforcement agencies.
Overall, the Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program provides a vast array of resources for chiefs of police. Whether one is a newly appointed chief of police or a seasoned veteran, the website of the Smaller Law Enforcement Agency Program of the IACP is definitely worth exploring.
J.W. Carter IICollege of Mount St Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA