March 2013

Dear Residents:

 

I am pleased to report that 2012 was an exceptional year for the Mansfield Division of Police. Although the impact of the City’s economic crisis continued to present challenges throughout the City, the Division of Police was able to sustain a high level of professional service to our citizens.

The Division lost six sworn officers through attrition, but was able to recall one officer leaving a total sworn strength of 74 at year’s end, or approximately 73% of our authorized sworn strength. We did not lose any members of our non-sworn staff, although we are still at 42% of our non-sworn authorized strength.

The Division achieved re-accreditation in July with zero findings, zero non-compliance, and zero applied discretion outcomes. On the Assessment Report Summary, Team Leader D. Thomas Anderson, Captain (Ret.) stated, “The Mansfield Division of Police is a full service law enforcement agency. The agency is laboring under an extremely difficult fiscal reality which has resulted in a reduction in force. The agency has maintained a broad range of high quality services to the community through aggressive pursuit of grants, partnering with other agencies in the region and through a dedicated workforce that has responded to the challenges by taking on multiple roles within the agency. The community is supportive as evidenced by comments expressed by speakers at the Public Information Session, i.e. ‘They are doing the impossible with nothing’ and ‘They always have smiles on their faces’. This partnering bond between community and agency has served both stakeholders well in the fiscal emergency and should be a sustaining factor as the City recovers its fiscal health.”

Overall part one crime increased 6.8%, with 3257 part one crimes reported in 2011 and 3491 part one crimes reported in 2012. Part of this increase is a result of a change in the reporting requirements as well as a rash of arsons which were interrupted after the arrest of two suspects that are now in custody.

The Mansfield Division of Police handled Thirty (30) complaints in 2012, which is down one (1) complaint from 2011. Fifteen (15) were received from citizens and fifteen (15) were internal complaints. All 2012 complaints have been reviewed by the Police Review/Community Relations Commission.

At the same time, the Division received 91 formal compliments from the public. A portion of our website, called “Moments of Opportunity in Police Service” is designed to highlight compliments received by the Division for the exceptional work they perform.

The Division was able return nearly 3% of our appropriated budget. The entire safety budget deficit was reduced nearly two million dollars and was eliminated in early 2013.

On behalf of the entire MPD family, I’d like to sincerely acknowledge the help and support of this community. Our ability to continue providing exceptional police service is in large part due to the partnerships we enjoy throughout this great city. We look forward to 2013, and are prepared to continue honoring our commitment to those we serve with Integrity, Honesty, Respect, Professionalism, and Self-Discipline.

 

Sincerely, 

Chief Dino Sgambellone