El
Paso Police Department
History, development and growth of the company
A police department in
a city is very important; in El Paso, Texas we have the El Paso Police
Department that has been in existence since 1800’s. But it was not until 1884
when El Paso Police Department was established. Some of the marshals served in
the Spanish-American war with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. The force was so
small in the 1800’s and now these days they are bigger.
Many people can think that El Paso Police department
is one of the best since it was created, but that is not true they say that it
was the “worst of the worse”. They bring better marshals so it can be better
every day and the city could be in good hands. In 1889 they had their first
Chief Police named T.C. Lyons, but he first served to El Paso Fire Department.
On the 1900’s the Police Department continued
growing. In 1916 there were 72 officers so this helps more so the city can be
safer. But not all was so good; in the year 1921 the Police Capitan P.H.
Phoenix died in a shooting and he was the 8th officer who died in
the line-of-duty. In the year of 1972 El Paso Police Department established the
first Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T).
Time for females, in May 1941, 2 females took the
test for police clerk. But in June of 1942 a year and a month after a newspaper
published the first want-ad for full-duty policewomen. It was not until the
graduation of the class of June 1974, that the first five females graduated
from the Police Academy. This was about
33 years later.
In the 90’s they got a lot of technological
advances. The police, since 2003 have better cars and every Patrol Car has a
computer with a video camera. So they have better things so the work can be
easier. The police say that their mission with the public is to reduce or solve
crimes so El Paso community can be safe and pleasant place to live.
So the department has been in existence for over 120
years. In the beginning they began very badly, but with the time it got better.
The department has lost 23 officers in the line-of-duty and has 37 different
chiefs of police. In all this years there are good and bad things, they pass
thru scandals, losses, and bad times, as well as good times. El Paso is
reaching a societal and policing level that is unequalled in Texas and in the
USA. The Police Officers are good servants, the citizens are involved, and the
community is safe.
El
Paso Police Department
Vision,
mission, and goals
Any company or
organization has the challenge to unite individuals in work and getting them to
work together as an effective team. For the success of any company or
organization it is important to have clearly defined organizational mission,
vision and goals. Every individual should have company mission, vision and
goals in mind in order to be achieved.
VISION
EPPD vision statement of what or how would like for
things to be, their image of the future is to keep El Paso “The Safest Large City in the United States”. The main
vision is for El Paso Police Officers to work throughout the whole year to
preserve neighborhoods and business districts safe, and preserve order and
enforce laws and city regulations. El Paso police department sees themselves in
the future making a better quality of life by preserving life and ensuring
safety to the residents of El Paso, and encouraging awareness to avoid crime.
MISSION
"It is the mission of the El Paso Police
Department to provide services with integrity and dedication, to preserve life,
to enforce the law, and to work in partnership with the community to enhance
the quality of life in the City of El Paso" - EPDD
GOALS
El Paso Police Officers work all year to keep
neighborhoods and business areas safe. They preserve order and enforce laws and
city regulations. Among the goals of the El Paso police department:
Respect
life...
“We hold the preservation of life as our sacred
duty.
Our value of human life set our priorities.”
Revere
the truth...
“We accept nothing less than truth, honesty
and integrity in our profession.”
Enforce
the law...
“We recognize that our basic responsibility is
to enforce the law.
Our role is to resolve problems
through the law, not to judge or punish.”
Seek
community partnership...
“We view the people of our community as partners
who deserve our concern, care and attention. We are
committed to reducing the fear of crime in our
community, and we endeavor to do this by
creating partnerships in our neighborhoods.”
Honor
our police powers...
“We understand that our police powers are
derived from the people we serve. We do not
tolerate the abuse of our police authority.”
Conduct
ourselves with dignity...
“We recognize that our personal conduct, both
on and off duty, is inseparable from the professional
reputation of both the officer and the
department."
The
El Paso Police Department is
"Dedicated
to Serve"
SWOT
Analysis for the El Paso Police Department
THE
NATURE OF THE COMPANY’S COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE
The
El Paso Police Department is an area where the city needs in order for our
safety and well-being to continue. The police department, uses the media, the
web and newspapers to get there information out to the public. This form of
communication is the only way they have known for years, to let the public know
on certain information they need for us to hear. The EPPD prides it’s self on
being one of the safest city in the nation when it achieved the Rank for the
Safest City in the Nation for cities with a population over 500,000 as reported
by the CQ Press in the annual publications, City Crime Rankings.
The
police department has all the information on all the crimes that have been
committed and even broken down to what area has the most crime. The information
is always accessible to all the public to view and determine what area they
would like to move to or stay away from. All this information is great for the
public to feel safe and have a sense of security by living here in El
Paso.
The El Paso Police
Department website, also gives other information that is very helpful to every
citizen in El Paso. When the EPDD is accepting applications for the department
they open up the availability on line for anyone who qualifies to apply. On
line you can find all the qualifications and requirements in order to be
considered for an applicant. It also tells you of any other opportunities that
are available throughout the city.
The Police department
prides it’s self on having only the best personnel in the department. They must
go through a series of interviews, and exams in order to go into the training
camp to become peace officers. Part of the exams that must be taken are a written exam, to verify
how accurate and quick they can take reports without any grammatical errors.
They also must go through polygraph exams to verify that the interviewee is a
responsible individual who would not obstruct the law to their favor. Lastly
the interviewee must also go through a board interview, were several of the
chiefs and supervisors continuously ask
questions or try to intimidate the candidate to see if they are weak or if they
would be able to handle the enormous amount of stress the job inquires.
By knowing the
department only hires the best, and takes its time to interview and screen every
person, lets citizens know that they are being taken care of by the best only.
By having been recognizing by the country that El Paso is one of the safest
cities in the nation, reassures citizens that the city of El Paso only hires
the best.
THE
CURRENT COMMUNICATION CHALLENGE
As of today, the main
communication challenge the El Paso Police Department has is they don’t
announce or advertise all the time when they are hiring in the department. The
police department at times seems very secretive when taking in applications. On
line you are able to find all the requirement and information you need in order
to apply, but it is rather difficult finding or locating the area where the
application is available. The web page is very confusing and not reassuring and
can be frustrating when an individual is there for hours trying to locate the
application and not being able to find it.
The police department
is currently under staff 272 police officers. The city is applicable into
hiring and average of 994, police officer to serve and protect the community.
Yet we currently only have 722 police officers taking care of our streets.
Considering El Paso has an estimated population of 655,000 people, we are
extremely short staffed and over working our current police officers. By having
this issue it makes several individual wonder if El Paso is really a safe city
or is it that politics have found a way of adjusting their numbers into their
favor. The Police department is an area where we should not cut and be able to
support, since they are ultimately the ones taking care of our families.
THE
PROPOSED SOLUTION TO THE CHALLENGE
These problems can be
easily remedied by advertising more when they have open enrollment for hiring.
Considering they use the media, web, and newspapers when they need to advertise
a certain statement or information, they can use this type of relations to
advertise when they are hiring individuals. Another aspect the police
department can do to help increase their applicant numbers is by simplifying
the access to the application. Also, by making the application quicker to find,
and simpler to manage will encourage individuals to want to apply.
Considering that El
Paso is one of the safest cities in the nation, being short staffed should not
be one of our concerns or worries. But it is, many people have complained and
been upset, with the police department. Many individuals that have made calls
to 911, have gone unanswered and police officers have never arrived to resolve,
or arrest and individual. By having a negative thought by one individual, it
can poison the rest of the well, and send people the wrong impressions that the
police department is not doing a great job and that the numbers that are
presented are fixed numbers that are being done to promote more tourism into El
Paso.
Therefore, having
proper advertising and promotion of the Police department will not only help
the city by making it safer but it will encourage more individuals to apply. By
fixing and making their webpage more user friendly, and easier to access the
application will encourage more individuals into applying and not having to
worry about not being able to find the application. Being so short staff in
this area where there is no room for failure, is where the city should be
giving more focus. Our communities and our families is what our police officers
are working to protect, but if we over work them and add more stress to them,
they will not be able to do their job at 100%, WERE THEY SHOULD ALWAYS BE!!!!
References
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/police/
http://www.raidsonline.com/?address=El+Paso%2CTX
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/police/history1.asp
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/police/history1.asp
