Thornton Police Department Purpose To provide the committee with - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Thornton Police Department

Purpose To provide the committee with an overview of the Thornton Police Department

Agenda • Culture • Recruitment • Hiring Process • Background Investigation • Training • Complaint Process • Early Intervention • Policies / Procedures

Culture • Thornton PD Culture • Core Values • Elevated hiring standards, selective hiring process • Goal: representative of the Thornton community • High expectation of officer conduct • Psychological Support for Officers

Recruitment Strategy The Thornton Police Department actively participates in several ethnic, cultural, racial and gender-specific recruiting events, which includes: • City of Thornton Festivals • P.O.S.T. Academy career fairs • Diversity Employment Day by City Career Fair • Women in Law Enforcement Symposium by the Federal Bureau of Investigations • LatPro for Hispanic and Bilingual Professionals • Numerous Military specific recruiting events • Denver Native American Festival • Government Career Day at CU Denver Auraria Campus • In-house developed Career night recruiting event • High School and Middle School Career Fairs • Metro wide Law Enforcement question and answer panels • Front Range Community Criminal Justice Recruiting Event

Job Requirements and Hiring Process • Job requirements for a police officer include: High school diploma or GED o Must be at least 21 years of age o Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certificate o Valid Colorado driver's license with a safe driving record o • Hiring process steps (each step requires successful completion to move forward in the process): Job posting by Human Resources o Application – which is reviewed by Human Resources and subject matter o experts Written testing – which evaluates cognitive and integrity of the applicant o Oral board interview – conducted by hiring and background personnel o Interview with Chief of Police and Executive Staff Member o Psychological Exam o Physical Exam o Final offer by Human Resources o

Background Investigation Process The background investigation includes: • Personal History Statement and Waiver of Confidentiality • Contacting previous employers, references, friends, neighbors, family, any further identified people during the process • Education, Criminal, and Financial History • In-depth review of all social media • Home Visit (one of the few agencies that conducts these) • Computerized Voice Stress Analyzer (Lie Detector) • Ride along with a field training officer

Officer Ethnicity 2019 2015 Ethnicity Count % Ethnicity Count % Amer Indian/Alaskan 3 1.3% Amer Indian/Alaskan 2 1.2% Asian (Not His/Lat) 2 0.8% Black(Not His/Lat) 3 1.8% Black(Not His/Lat) 6 2.5% Hispanic/Latino 16 9.4% Hispanic/Latino 30 12.6% Nat Haw/Pacific 3 1.8% Nat Haw/Pacific 3 1.3% Two or more 1 0.6% Two or more 5 2.1% White(Not His/Lat) 145 85.3% White(Not His/Lat) 189 79.4% Gender Count % Gender Count % Female 19 11.2% Female 37 15.5% Male 151 88.8% Male 201 84.5%

2019 Census Data – Thornton Ethnicity

Training • Training is the backbone of Thornton PD • Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) academy training 6 months o • In House Recruit Academy 3 months o • Field Training Program 4 months (classroom and performance oriented) o • Ongoing In-Service Training 134 hours in 2019 o Requirement by POST is 24 hours o • Advanced Training to Officers 5,070 in 2019 o • Focused on After Action Review and feedback

Complaint Process • Complaints can be filed: o in person o online on our webpage o through the My Thornton App o through email o by telephone o through a department supervisor o internally by peers • Investigated and reviewed at all levels of police department supervision, up to and including the Chief of Police as well as the Professional Standards Unit

Complaint Tracking and Resolution • Tracked and maintained in an early intervention system to identify patterns of behavior that require corrective measures • Corrective measures may include: o discipline o remedial training o coaching or counseling o employee assistance

Early Intervention Statistics 2020 YTD 2019 • Admin Reviews 1 • Admin Reviews 2 • Citizen Complaints 11 • Citizen Complaints 30 • Compliments 65 • Compliments 170 • Failed to Follow Procedure 23 • Failed to Follow Procedure 54 • Performance Reviews 5 • Performance Reviews 34 • Response to Resistance 30 • Response to Resistance 76 • Supervisory Review 3 • Supervisory Review 10 • Vehicle Accident 8 • Vehicle Accident 33 • Vehicle Pursuit 5 • Vehicle Pursuit 8

Early Intervention Outcomes 2019 2020 • Verbal Counseling 75 • Verbal Counseling 23 • Corrective Actions 43 • Corrective Actions 8 • Resigned 2 • Resigned 1 • Training Issue 4 • Training Issue 1 • Written Reprimand 8 • Written Reprimand 2

TPD Policy Manual • 170 Department Policies • Categories Law Enforcement Role and Authority o Organization and Administration o General Operations o Patrol Operations o Traffic Operations o Investigation Operations o Equipment o Support Services o Custody o Personnel o

Policies and Procedures • Policies undergo continuous validation and review by subject matter experts to ensure compliance with National Best Practices • Lexipol legal review • Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Accreditation (CALEA) • Annual review of entire policy manual