Campus Oriented Problem Solving, or COPS, is a derivation of two law enforcement strategies: Community Oriented Policing (COP) and Problem Oriented Policing (POP). It is designed to focus our efforts in the most efficient and effective manner to deal with root causes of crime problems on campus. It has been described as a strategy in which "a police officer shifts from an incident driven enforcer to a results driven problem solver." (SBPD 1996) Our department has adopted this strategy as an organizational philosophy.
What that means to you as a member of the campus community is that our department is going to use innovative, non-traditional methods to not only respond to crime concerns but to correct its root causes and eliminate its reoccurrence. It also means an expanded partnership between University Police and the campus community. Law enforcement has learned that community members are the best allies in fighting crime and keeping the peace. Better communication and interaction are a must if Campus Oriented Problem Solving is to be effective.
Our first efforts will be to communicate who we are and how we work. This report is part of that effort. We plan to get each of our personnel out into the campus community interacting with you as much as possible to create a relationship of trust and cooperation. Next we want to help empower you to be a part of the public safety effort on campus. That will come through our being more responsive to your needs and suggestions. As we build that trust and working relationship, we hope you will involve yourself in campus safety through your suggestions, information, and by practicing crime prevention.
The University Police Department pledges to do all it can to provide quality service and perform its mission using the COPS philosophy. Essentially, the Department will look at each call for service with an analytical perspective to determine not only how to answer the individual call, but to prevent its reoccurrence. It will be a proactive rather than reactive method of operation. With the help and support of the campus community, our campus can become the SAFEST it has ever been.