ORANGE : Police Department Divided Into 3 Teams

Top police officials have divided the department into three “teams” and have told all officers to immerse themselves more deeply in the community.

“It goes to the very basis of how we define our job,” Lt. Edward Tunstall said of the department’s reorganization. “Policing does not work when you have the police telling the community what will work. It should be just the opposite.”

Officials unveiled the new “community policing,” which began in January, at a City Council workshop earlier this week, although attempts to change officers’ attitudes began about two years ago, Tunstall added.

The basis of the reform is an approach to policing that tries to solve root causes of criminal behavior--causes such as homelessness and blight, officers said at the presentation.

The department has been sending officers to training seminars that teach them to have a more receptive attitude to residents, but apparently not all have responded with enthusiasm. “We’ve had a hard time instilling these tenets, because we are a very traditional department,” Tunstall said.

This year, top officials decided to restructure the department to fit with the new philosophy. They divided the city into three segments and put employees into one of three “teams,” each one of which is like a mini-Police Department, Tunstall said. From captains to K-9 units, each team is a self-sufficient unit, he said. The idea was to increase “beat awareness” and bring officers closer to the neighborhood, Tunstall said.

“Community-based policing really is a philosophy--it’s not a program,” said Chief John R. Robertson. “It’s about how you feel inside and how you approach problems.”