Starting a New Police Department?

New police departments are started every year. Sometimes it's because a previously unincorporated county area incorporated as a municipality. In other instances it's simply because a municipality was dissatisfied with the level of performance or lack of value it was receiving from contracting with a county sheriff. Whatever reasons a municipality has for considering starting its own department, the decision-making process has to be painstakingly thorough and diligent.

The US Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), has prepared a 64-page guide to help communities wade through the decision-making process. The guide is entitled Guidelines for Starting and Operating a New Police Department.

Though the guide is clearly intended to help in the startup process, a little "reverse engineering reading" will help those communities who already have police departments learn how to better evaluate their existing departments.

Here are some other COPS guidelines useful for starting new departments or upgrading existing ones:

• Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Small and Rural Police Agencies

• Innovations in Police Recruitment and Hiring - Hiring in the Spirit of Service

• Community Policing in Action! A Practitioner’s-Eye View of Organizational Change

• Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime and Disorder through Problem-Solving Partnerships

• The COPS Collaboration Toolkit: How to Build, Fix, and Sustain Productive Partnerships

• Police Training Officer (PTO) Program Materials

• School Safety Package