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THE STRATEGIC PLANNING
PROCESS Quick, comprehensive & continuing
City Manager Kurt Kimball and Chief Harry Dolan launched the Strategic Planning process early in the summer of 1998, by conducting a series of training sessions that introduced basic community policing concepts to the police department and to other city agencies and interested groups and individuals. The chief taught the sessions personally, so that he could explain his vision of where the department should be going to meet present and future challenges. Under normal circumstances, a police agency takes a year or more to develop a strategic plan to implement community policing, recognizing the enormity of the change and the importance of including input from as many sources as possible, inside and outside the department. In Grand Rapids, however, a number of factors put this plan on the fast track. One stemmed from the fact that the City was continuing to implement its Strategic Facilities Plan, with the strong possibility of expanding the City’s community-oriented government response to neighborhoods. Important as well was the department’s eagerness to craft a plan to put Chief Dolan’s vision into practice. A major driving force behind accelerating the planning process also stemmed from a unique opportunity to build decentralized police facilities that will allow form to follow function. The reality is that downtown development will eventually force the police department to find a new home. So if the goal is to go Back to the Future, by reinventing old-fashioned beat cops as today’s community problem solvers, why not explore the feasibility of moving the physical structure of the police department closer to the people as well? The challenge therefore was to develop a plan quickly, to see how those decentralized Neighborhood Police Service Centers could become a hub of stability in their service areas, and to see which other partners should be invited to co-locate. A remarkable opportunity such as this happens all too rarely. So in July, City Manager Kurt Kimball and Chief Harry Dolan brought a plan to Mayor John Logie and the City Commission to develop a draft of the Strategic Plan for the Grand Rapids Police Department by mid-September. The commitment was made, and the consulting firm of policing.com assembled the Strategic Planning Support Team under the direction of Bonnie Bucqueroux. For almost a decade, as Association Director of the National Center for Community Policing at Michigan State University, Bucqueroux worked closely with the late Dr. Robert Trojanowicz. Trojanowicz was a nationally renowned pioneer of the community policing movement and a strong supporter of Chief Dolan’s efforts to take community policing to the next level, as part of community-oriented government. Bucqueroux recruited a top-notch team to help. Drew Diamond, senior researcher for the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) of Washington, D.C., inaugurated the process by hosting a series of executive leadership sessions, in particular with Senior Police Management. Dr. Carl Taylor, a noted expert on community dynamics and youth culture, developed strategies to solicit community input, including a canvass of hard-to-reach neighborhoods. Dr. Bruce Benson, director of Michigan State University’s Department of Police and Public Safety, offered the team the direct participation of Captain Tony Kleibecker, to assist in analyzing the police organizational structure and staffing. Dr. Joanne Ziembo-Vogl of Grand Valley State University, yet another Trojanowicz disciple, assisted the initial planning process. Input from within the police department The initial challenge was to secure input from all areas of the department, including sworn and non-sworn, to do so quickly and comprehensively. Chief Dolan immediately established the new Strategic Planning Newsletter as a means of keeping everyone within the agency informed and involved. The Senior Management Team also began holding executive sessions on the issues. The decision was made to provide the expanded Department Advisory Committee (DAC) and each workgroup within the department three weeks to gather ideas, input, and advice and to submit a written report on what they wanted to see in the future. The resulting feedback demonstrates how much hard work went into their input. For a department with little tradition in planning, the DAC and workgroup reports, specifically the special efforts made by the lieutenants under the leadership of Lt. Carol Price, provided a rich resource for the planning process. During this time, the South Community Policing Team pilot project continued to work on developing plans for launch in mid-October. The goal is to use this pilot project to point the way toward the future when all areas of the city will have their own teams. The Strategic Planning Support Team also conducted targeted interviews, gathered supporting information, and assisted in facilitating meetings within the department. In the Community As the information-gathering process within the police department was under way, an equally ambitious effort to solicit input from the community was launched. Chief Dolan received a wealth of ideas and advice from the Mayor, the City Manager, and the City Commission at a special luncheon session. The department hosted a series of Neighborhood Meetings in August at four locations around the city, where citizens had a chance to talk about their concerns directly to the Chief and his top command and to discuss the changes that they wanted to see in the future. The Strategic Planning Support Team, with Dr. Carl Taylor as moderator, also held two special dinner meetings, north and south, with leadership of the Neighborhood Associations. These two-hour sessions provided an opportunity for these community leaders to talk about their role in community policing. Community surveys were distributed at all meetings, and those same documents were the basis for the Community Canvass. Strategic Planning Support Team members also conducted targeted interviews with some of the city agencies that are eager to collaborate. Developing the draft plan All of that data flowing from inside and outside the department were ultimately gathered into the briefing books provided to the Senior Police Management Team, consisting of Chief Dolan, Deputy Chief Ostapowicz, and Captains Kevin Belk, Pamela Carrier, James Farris, Victor Gillis, Phillip Jager, Curt VanderKooi, and Vernon Snyder. Armed with that broad array of information, data, input, and advice, the Senior Management Team retreated for a day in late August to Camp O’Malley, where they wrestled with the challenge of translating the Chief’s vision into the values, mission, goals, objectives, strategies, and milestones that would comprise a comprehensive and workable five-year strategic plan to implement community policing as part of community-oriented government. In an impressive effort, the senior staff hammered out the basics. In numerous follow-up sessions during the succeeding two weeks, they were able to paint a complete picture of how those challenging goals can be made real. Continuing input Once the initial draft Strategic Plan was completed, the goal was to present it to as many groups as possible inside and outside the department. The Chief and the Senior Management Team initially previewed the draft plan to the City Manager and his top aides. Next on the list was a session at the police department, which was open to everyone. To ensure that entire department had the opportunity to comment and critique, the Chief took a shortened version of the Power Point presentation to roll calls, and he held special sessions with lieutenants, sergeants, detectives, and the Department Advisory Committee. With its emphasis on community policing as part of community-oriented government, the City Manager, Chief and Senior Management Team held a special brainstorming session with department heads at a recent City Management Forum. In a spirited session, the group proposed a laundry list of possible City services that could be offered from the proposed six decentralized Neighborhood Police Service Centers, ranging from bag-and-tag sales to job applications, from building permits to a "lending library" of lawnmowers and tools that area residents could borrow. This is not to suggest that each of the proposed six facilities will offer a full array of these services, but the goal of the exercise was to explore the full range of possibilities. Draft plan presentations were made to the community at two major neighborhood forums, on October 5 at Ottawa Hills High School and on October 7 at Northeast Middle School, as well as to an area business group. Presentations were also made for the 61st District Court judges, Kent County Bar Association, Kent County prosecutors and Circuit Court judges, Spectrum Health, Parks and Recreation Department, and the Rental Property Owners Association. Chief Dolan and other members of the Senior Management Team continued to present the plan to as many interested groups as possible, to educate the public and enhance buy-in. The section on community input includes complete information. City of Grand Rapids Annual Retreat On November 17, the proposed police department plan was presented at the City of Grand Rapids Annual Retreat, to reinforce efforts to have the GRPD plan dovetail into the City of Grand Rapids’ strategic planning process. Three years ago, the City of Grand Rapids adopted a five-year plan that focused on economic development. With many of those goals achieved or well on their way to success, City officials embarked on a visioning process that recognized the importance of specifying actions to strengthen neighborhoods, thereby supporting strong participation in the police department plan. Formal adoption The City Commission passed the plan on Tuesday, November 17 and affirmed funding the six new Neighborhood Police Service Centers on December 8. 1998. Project Planning & Management (P2M) of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, is assisting in the development of space requirements and cost estimates for the building program. |
