Full Notification

July 12, 2012

Police Department’s commitment to public safety, efficiency highlighted by recent accomplishments

The Dearborn Police Department’s commitment to public safety and Dearborn residents is reflected in recent noteworthy accomplishments.

They include a drop in crime rates from the same period last year, receipt of a competitive $1.2 million federal grant to hire more officers, an initiative that uses integrated data to anticipate crime and deploy officers in even more effective ways, and continued recognition for the department’s successful community outreach.

Mayor John B. O’Reilly said these achievements should add to residents’ confidence that Dearborn has a high performing police department.

“Our police department is focused on keeping our neighborhoods’ safe and our residents involved,” said Mayor O’Reilly, “and they are doing it in proactive ways, while being mindful of our budget challenges.”

Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad agreed.

“Among the many responsibilities of the police department, there is nothing more important than our responsibility to our citizens,” said Chief Haddad.

“We are committed to maintaining safety while enhancing the quality of life. I understand the trust and investment our citizens place in their police department. Each day we work hard to provide the highest level of service and to do so in an efficient and fiscally responsible way,” Haddad said.

As a direct result of the Dearborn Police Departments innovative efforts, in June the department was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, to hire fulltime police officers that have served actively in any branch of the United States Armed Forces as part of the “Vets to Cops” program.

This competitive grant program received more than 1,400 applications from law enforcement agencies across the nation; and Dearborn was one of only eight cities in the State of Michigan to receive the award.

This is on the heels of a still active federal grant for $2.3 million the department received in 2009.

Chief Haddad stated, “My staff worked tirelessly to obtain funding grants to lessen the financial burden placed on our residents and businesses. These grants greatly aid our fiscal ability to provide the highest possible level of police services.”

Over the past several years, the Dearborn Police Department has gone to great lengths to build partnerships and promote community involvement.

The Community Policing philosophy of the Dearborn department has received national and international recognition and is considered a model of best practices by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.

Chief Haddad credits the professional men and women of the police department as well as the citizens who have embraced the department’s initiatives.

“We have opened up state-of-the-art communication with our residents with our use of Crimemapping.com, Nixle, and our Facebook page. Through this transparency, we have engaged our residents who now serve as a force multiplier as they are more aware of issues relating to crime and bring more information forward to help us prevent and solve crimes,” said Chief Haddad.

Through enhanced patrol deployment tactics, officer commitment, and community support, the Dearborn Police Department reports a 14 percent reduction in criminal activity citywide for the first half of 2012 in comparison to the same time period of 2011.

The police department is looking to further refine patrol deployment through an initiative to integrate traffic safety with crime prevention.

The Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) initiative utilizes crime data, enforcement data, traffic data, and accident data to analyze and predict potential crime patterns and trends. With this information, patrol officers will then be deployed in a proactive fashion to disrupt and deter crime further so an even greater reduction in crime can be realized.

As the police department continues to move forward, Chief Haddad also gives credit to the Police Officers’ Association of Dearborn, the Dearborn Police Command Staff, labor negotiators and elected officials who all worked closely to develop and ratify a police union contract that recognizes the city’s financial challenges and sets the stage for continued success in the future.