-----------------------FOR-IMMEDIATE
RELEASE--------------------
SPD COMMUNITY POLICING PROGRAM TO IMPLEMENT QUADRANT SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM (QSDS)
SAGINAW,
MI, April 24th, 2014 – The Saginaw Police Department (SPD), in
conjunction with the City of Saginaw’s SCENIC Department, has announced the SPD
will be expanding its Community Police Officer ( CPO) program city wide
beginning in May 2014 with the introduction of the Quadrant Service Delivery
System (QSDS).
'We have been trying to find a way
to better deliver services to
Saginaw’s citizens through our community policing program, “said Saginaw Police
Chief Brian Lipe” This program combines a number of resources and
puts them at immediate disposal of our CPOs and solutions
to criminal activity and quality-of-life issues.”
The new
program expands on community police officers being assigned to smaller geographic neighborhoods and,
essentially, divides Saginaw into four quadrants and assigns a CPO to
each. When the program rolls out there
will be a community police officer assigned to every area of the City. Additionally, each CPO will have full service
support from the city which allows them to deal with issues in a speedy manner,
according to John Stemple, Saginaw’s Chief Inspector. Each quadrant will have assigned a SCENIC
code enforcement officer, a parking enforcement officer and an environmental
crew with a trash hauler for cleaning up trash and debris. Between the community police officer,
inspectors, environmental personnel, fire department personnel, a parking
enforcement officer and department personnel, and
neighborhood group leadership, Stemple estimates there will be about 13 people
available per quadrant to assist with neighborhood issues.
"This
program is designed to focus our human resources in specific areas to
significantly reduce crime, blight and nuisances in our neighborhoods, said
Stemple, “while at the same time building better relationships with our
residents so that those resources are directed where the people want them.
Lipe
states one more police
officer will be added to the current
compliment of three
CPOs to achieve the number of officers needed to run the quadrant program
effectively. Officer Patrick Busch was
chosen to join veteran community police officers Jon Beyerlein, Leon Burns and
Nate Voelker.
"Officer
Busch has shown a lot of
initiative as a
patrol officer and I think his high energy level is conducive to
what we are trying to accomplish with this new program,” Lipe said.
Geographically,
Saginaw's four quadrants will align as follows:
Quadrant #1 - West side Saginaw north of Court
Street (Officer Busch),
Quadrant #2 - west side Saginaw south of Court Street (Officer Voelker).
Quadrant #3 - East side Saginaw north of Holland Avenue (Officer Burns).
Quadrant #4 - East side Saginaw south of Holland Avenue (Officer Beyerlein).
Quadrant #2 - west side Saginaw south of Court Street (Officer Voelker).
Quadrant #3 - East side Saginaw north of Holland Avenue (Officer Burns).
Quadrant #4 - East side Saginaw south of Holland Avenue (Officer Beyerlein).
Lipe
said he expects the new system to build on, and even grow,
already established neighborhood groups.
"Even
though the Saginaw Police Department has experienced
financial challenges in recent years, one of the things I am most proud to say
is we have cultivated wonderful relationships with Saginaw’s neighborhood
associations and groups who are out there trying to make Saginaw a better
place,” Lipe said. We plan on building
on those relationships by offering what we consider a full-service approach to
policing, code enforcement and environmental issues.”