Chief's Message
by Chief John Welter

World Class Customer Service?

We’re not the only police department trying to improve our service to the community.  In October 2009, 5,029 people participated in Police Station Visitors Week, the largest number of visitors in the history of this unique global event. The station visits took place in 211 cities, spread across 20 countries stretching from Bangladesh to Brazil, Malaysia to Mexico, and Russia to Uganda. For many of the visitors, the experience provided their first real access to local law enforcement and a platform for expressing their views about how well or poorly the station is serving their community.  Anaheim PD was one of only 8 U.S. cities and 23 U.S. police stations taking part in this worldwide event.  The station visits, held from October 26th through October 30th, brought residents into their local police station to observe and later rate basic conditions and services. The simple, 20-item assessment covered five core aspects of a police station and the services provided there: community orientation, physical conditions, equal treatment of the public, transparency and accountability, and detention conditions. By combining visitors’ ratings, stations received a score in each area and an overall score based on the average of the five area scores.

Altus Global Alliance published National and International reports on the Police Station Visitors Week on the flowing website: http://www.altus.org/#:  The report discusses the scores in the context of comments by visitors, and explores the growing impact of these events on police‑community relations and the quality of services provided to the public. Notably, the report also includes the first-ever analysis of changes in station scores over time and an examination of changing performance among a group of police stations in six major cities in Brazil. It’s exciting to be part of a changing police culture around the world.  Special thanks to Sergeant Lorenzo Glenn who coordinates this yearly visit for APD.  We are very proud of our police department and the services we provide to Anaheim.

Our customer service training is off and running.  I want to thank Deputy Chief Craig Hunter for his hard work on designing and leading this important initiative.  Many of you have already attended the training and I want to thank you for continuing efforts to improving our customer service; our community deserves it.  There are so many simple things we can do to improve service and at the same time gain cooperation, respect, and support from our community.  As I’ve described in earlier columns, we’re implementing this training as part of a City-wide effort to improve customer service ratings as determined through a study by J D Power and Associates.  In that study, APD received a fair overall satisfaction rating, but we can do better.  There a few areas where improvement is definitely needed.  I look forward to the results of a follow-up study in the next two years.  I’m confident our ratings will go up as our customer service improves. 

For those who were fortunate enough to attend the Survivors Academy graduation at the Family Justice Center last month, the event was moving and promising.  I wish it would have been recorded.  It spoke volumes on how we are proving hope for crime victims while working to prevent future family crime.  Twenty-one women graduated from an 8‑week program that will help them stay away from abusive relationships, raise their children in a more peaceful home, improve interpersonal and parenting skills, and succeed in life where they experienced mostly failure.  All of the women who attended were abused.  All of them volunteered to take part in the Academy.  They came to the AFJC for help, and they got more than they expected.  Through the Survivors Academy they became stronger, more independent, and more confident in themselves.  At the graduation each of them spoke about what the Academy meant to them and how it’s changing their lives and the lives of their families.  The Academy is offered to victims of domestic violence and is funded entirely through private donations through the AFJC Foundation.  For those who want to know the value of the Center, I ask that they attend the next graduation and then decide.  The AFJC is truly changing lives.  Please take the time to read more about the AFJC and the Survivor’s Academy on our APD Behind the Badge website link at http://anaheimpd.wordpress.com/.  Thanks to Lt. Julian Harvey for his outstanding leadership at the AFJC and for his work with the AFJC Board of Trustees.  He has truly made a difference in providing great service to victims, but also in expanding the crime prevention activities at the Anaheim Family Justice Center. 

Baker to Vegas will be over by the time this is published, but I want to thank all of the runners and support staff for the competition and representation of APD in the desert.  I always enjoy this event every year.  I hope all of you set personal fitness goals.  My goals give me a reason and purpose for keeping fit and watching my weight.  Speaking of weight, many of us also finished the annual Fitness Challenge.  Terri and I had fun trying to see who could lose more fat while maintaining lean muscle and our sanity.  She beat me like a drum, but I did manager to drop a few pounds and 2 inches.  It wasn’t easy, but well worth the effort.  Both of us lost some of our winter coat…. Thanks to Kari Mefferd for her commitment to our personal health.  I know she’s proud of her work at APD.  Stay Safe and Stay Healthy!