The department wants to empower citizens to protect themselves and wants to help everyone prepare for threats they are most likely to face based on their specific situations. Conversations on these topics easily bring up subjects that are too complicated to adequately address in a short conversation or presentation.
Intelligence-Led, Victim-Driven
It is important to identify threats to the community and deliver advice or warnings accordingly. Using resources to provide information that does not apply to a particular group of individuals when time could be spent educating people on problems they are likely to encounter is inefficient. Likewise, spending time establishing relationships with groups for the sole purpose of making them more likely to turn to us for problem solving, without providing them with tools to solve their own problems or recognize threats specific to their situation, distracts us from work that could be most beneficial to the community.
Comprehensive Approach
PROTECT is a comprehensive program that goes beyond listening to an officer provide advice. It evaluates ways we can specifically help the entity protect themselves from threats, provide us with information most helpful to responding officers in the event of a crime, and helps the entity understand things they can do to avoid being a victim. It also places some responsibilities on the individuals and entities for their own safety to discourage reliance on limited and diminishing resources of the police department.
Recent interest over active shooter response has presented an opportunity for the department to engage with the community and encourage proactive actions. For example, use of threat assessment teams and participation or promotion of our crime tips management system could directly benefit the entity and prevent an active shooter occurrence.
PROTECT develops institutional relationships to promote sharing of important intelligence that is specific to a particular industry or business-type. Beyond the tools to provide information to the police department to take action, the department is part of many intelligence networks. These networks include some information that can be shared in the interest of preventing further victimization on an as-needed basis. PROTECT provides an appropriate forum for information sharing.
Promoting the Partnership
Entities that meet the stringent criteria of the PROTECT program will receive permission to use the PROTECT logo on digital and print media. Doors may be marked to let criminals know they might want to go elsewhere!