HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013 South Bend Police Dept Annual ReportSouth Bend Police Department
2013 Highlights
· The Department has recommitted its efforts to utilize “Intelligence Led, Predictive
Policing” as a method to utilize and deploy appropriate manpower and tactics to patrol
the City and suppress criminal activity. This involves scrubbing data and determining
areas that truly reflect increases in crime and deploying officers to address those issues
accordingly.
· The Group Anti-Violence Initiative for the City of South Bend was developed last year
using the model and under the direct guidance of Professor David M. Kennedy of the
John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. This inclusive community program
will take a fresh approach at dealing with the issue of gun violence in the City and has
already proven very successful in several large American urban areas.
· Contracting with Shot Spotter Technologies in 2013 is a bold step to introduce real-time
identification and tracking of gunshots in three areas of the City. This will not only allow
officers to be sent quickly to a shots-fired scene, but will also be a valuable tool in
gathering clean data on when and where shots are being fired. This data will marry well
with the aforementioned predictive policing strategies.
· South Bend saw a 50% reduction in homicides in 2013. That coupled with a reduction in
firearm assaults was very positive for our community. Last year, however, we also saw
an increase in robberies to person. The SBPD Investigative Division initiated a dedicated
Robbery Unit to address those crimes. Not unlike the successful Burglary Unit, this
group takes a focused approach to investigating robberies with a goal of targeting and
prosecuting repeat offenders.
· We have implemented a new position: Nuisance Property Officer who is monitoring
problem properties within the city. A 2013 Ordinance was placed into effect that will
allow the police department to regulate and fine nuisance property owners and
landlords that fail to address criminal and/or environmental issues on their properties.
· We have also initiated enforcement of the 2013 Moped and Scooter Ordinance. This
ordinance requires persons with a moped/scooter to register the vehicle through our
department; likely reducing the number of those unlawfully operating the vehicles, and
subsequently reducing the number of crashes, especially involving our youth.
· Training was greatly expanded in 2013 for officers, civilians and management level
personnel. Along with the State mandated training that requires updates and
maintenance of basic officer proficiency, many additional hours were provided as the
department invited numerous community groups and agencies in to present to our
employees the services they can provide to the citizens we encounter.
· In September the department began a subscription with LeadsOnline. LeadsOnline is an
online database that is national in scope and assist our department in the management
of information reported pertaining to transactions occurring at local secondhand stores,
precious metal dealers and scrap metal dealers. LeadsOnline allows for this mandatorily
reported information to be searched and analyzed – checking immediately for stolen
property amongst the sales to our local licensed businesses. This program takes the
investigation and recovery of stolen property to a national database level. An Ordinance
will be introduced in 2014 to make use of this database mandatory, allowing for the
identification of burglary suspects and enhanced recovery of stolen property.
· The department has maintained strategic partnerships and provided supplemental
manpower to several metro and Federal law enforcement units. We continue to see
positive results from pooling resources with such groups as Metro Homicide, Special
Victims Unit, DEA Task Force, ATF Task Force, Metro Special Operations and others. Our
partnership with the South Bend Community School Corporation through the School
Resource Officer program remains strong as does our youth outreach programs
conducted through our Police Athletic League which provides activities and mentoring
programs.
· During 2013, our department assisted with traffic and security for 154 special events,
including Notre Dame Football, several bicycle and running events, marches, funerals,
civic functions and a host of other public gatherings. The department also worked in
collaboration with other South Bend City departments and Federal authorities on a
continuous, five-day investigation of the Iowa St. plane crash.
· Several technological upgrades were implemented during 2013. Two new virtual servers
were installed in addition to upgraded storage, switches, UPS and cabling. These were
necessary to introduce secure wireless access of nearly all computer based records,
dispatch and reporting to officers in the field. The goal in a “work smarter” environment
for law enforcement is to keep patrol and investigators on the street. The upgrades and
additions have made officer’s jobs nearly 100% achievable from a mobile platform.
· The department also aggressively researches and pursues green technologies for both
the physical plant of the police department as well as other technologies from
computers to cars. Environmental stewardship and cost efficiencies are serious matters
in a large department.
The following is a deeper look into specific divisions, bureaus and units within the department
and discusses some of the points mentioned above in greater detail:
UNIFORM/PATROL DIVISION
At approximately 160 police officers, the Uniform Division is the largest of the department. In
2014, we are looking to increase the division from 62% to 65% of total police personnel. With
new initiatives: Roving Roll-Call, meeting with and actively participating in Neighborhood
Groups, bicycle and foot patrols, mentoring, and regularly visiting grade schools; we are
changing our image, as well as branding our image-converting the way the public and our youth
see us, and how we see them. Our Volunteers In Policing personnel (civilian volunteers) have
given over 4,300 hours of their time. This has an estimated departmental savings of $96,000.
We had over 400 participants in our National Night Out, and personal contact with over 20,000
citizens of our community.
The Uniform Division also includes specialty units, such as: SWAT, K-9, Street Crimes, Bomb
Squad, Special Events, Rapid Response Team (EMA included), Crime Prevention,
Nuisance/Abatement Properties and Crime Scene Technicians. Of course, three patrol details;
working the entire city of South Bend; 24/7/365-covering 500,000+ traveled/patrolled miles
this year, and preparing and responding to several severe weather-related incidents.
We have more than doubled our training and training hours, far exceeding state requirements.
The Division has recovered over 320 firearms and responded to 89,707 calls for service, issuing
over: 7,000 traffic citations, participated in 154 special events, and completed more than
17,000 case reports. We have spent countless hours on funeral and other escorts, as well as
the tragic plane crash that resulted in the loss of two lives, four injured, and significant property
and neighborhood normalcy damage.
We have implemented a new position: Nuisance/Abatement Property Officer who is now
dealing with 90 properties falling into such property as listed by Council ordinance. We have
also introduced and placed into regiment, another Council ordinance: Moped/Scooter. This
ordinance requires persons with a moped/scooter to register the vehicle through our
department; likely reducing the number of those unlawfully operating the vehicles, and
subsequently reducing the number of crashes, especially involving our youth. Weekly, we are
adding more youth to our Police Athletic League.
2013/2014 brings us the Group Violence Initiative and Shot-Spotter System implementation.
These initiatives flow with our intelligence led analytics and dissemination to every officer. This
makes trends and patterns a real-time visual, and isolates specific areas requiring the most and
immediate attention.
We are also in the process of expanding our leadership/management courses, in order to
strengthen our current command staff, and to build a foundation for younger officers to
progress our department at an elevated pace. This will not only promote retention, but hiring,
and put us ahead of competition with other police agencies.
We continue to; “do our job, so we don’t have to do our job.” Combinations of Intelligence Led
Policing, Community and Problem Oriented Policing, Group Violence Initiative, Shot-Spotter,
and a Regional-based patrol system, are large steps in the progression of our department and
toward the people we serve.
Investigative Division
In 2013, the City of South Bend saw an overall reduction in crime. We saw an increase in
robberies (mostly street robberies to person) which allowed us to create a dedicated unit
committed to solving those crimes. Between Major Case and Robbery investigators, we
identified and apprehended 4 individuals that were ultimately responsible for over a dozen
robberies and aggravated assaults (shootings) in our city and other cities. In addition, that
investigation led to the identification of additional suspects involved in those crimes.
Although the residential burglary rate remains a challenge, the overall residential burglary rate
dropped by approximately 11%. We saw a large increase in rape in 2013, however, that is due
to a significant change in the FBI classification of that crime.
In November of 2013, the South Bend Police Officers assigned to the US Marshal’s Great Lakes
Regional Task Force were transferred from the chief’s office to the Investigative Division.
The men and women who make up the South Bend Police Investigative Division (Detective
Bureau, our Metro Units, Task Force Officers and our Civilian support staff) are some of the
finest investigators the department has ever employed. This is a team of dedicated and highly
trained professionals that do an outstanding job every day. The St. Joseph County Prosecutors
Office and Judges routinely call and congratulate and commend our department. We assure
the citizens of South Bend and St. Joseph County, that when they are a victim of a crime in our
area, that every effort will be made to solve that crime.
South Bend Detective Bureau (only)
Total cases assigned to the Detective Bureau (day shift and night shift): 4336 total cases
Burglary unit: 1449
Generalists: 1483
Major Case (including Robbery): 441
Motor Vehicle Theft: 326
Fraud /Financial Crimes: 255
Arson and misc. public cases: 54
Digital Forensic Unit: 133 devices (from MHU, SVU, Major Case, Burglary, etc.)
Unfounded: 108
Administrative: 273
Arrest DB: 43
Arrest-Uniform with DB Investigation: 438
Exceptional-DB: 508
Exceptional NP-193
Total number of cases closed by Arrest DB, Arrest-Uni with DB Inv., Exceptional DB / No Pros:
27%
Burglary Unit (BU)
According to www.crimereports.com the following were the statistical numbers pertaining to
case reports classified as burglary incidents filed in incorporated South Bend, IN during 2013
and compared to the previous two (2) years of operation:
Total number of cases: 1449
Decline from 2012: -222 / -13.20%
According to the BU case assignment spreadsheet the BU was given 1558 cases to follow up in
2013. This number includes cases that were not classified as burglary cases and some of the
AFIS/CODIS Hits from pre 2013 cases. The range of cases, the BU investigated that were not
burglary classified cases were:
Aggravated assault/assault-2, DUI arrest-1, found property-4, harassment/PO violations-3,
home invasion robberies-8, larcenies / thefts-18, city license violations/misc. public-7, outside
cases generated-5, resisting arrest-1, trespass-3, vandalism-22 , weapon possession violations-
1.
Out of the remaining burglary classified cases assigned to the BU the victimized structure types
were broken down in the following manner:
Commercial structures: 97 / 6.5%
Unattached garage/shed structures: 176 / 11.9%
Residential structures: 1013 / 68.3%
Vacant structures: 197 / 13.3
The cases, assigned to the BU in 2013, have been closed in the following manner:
Open: 3
Unfounded: 11
Reassigned to another Investigator: 4
Administrative: 16
Arrest/ Exceptional /Detention: 117
Pending: 1407
The South Bend Police Department Burglary Unit (BU) operated with six (6) members until mid-
September when Detective Tim Wiley moved to The South Bend Police Department Major
Crimes Unit. During the calendar year of 2013 members of the BU filed 2470 additional or case
reports in the ADSi Records System.
In May of 2013 the entire BU participated in the presentation of a day-long Burglary Reporting
and Investigation class through the South Bend Police Department Regional Training Academy.
The class was broken down into modules that were divided between each member of the BU to
develop and present to the class. The expertise and experience of each BU member went into
the development of this unique resource of both information and networking. Sixty eight (68)
patrol officers and investigators from Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan attended the
class. Class evaluations were very good and several modules have morphed into larger day long
classes being prepared for 2014 presentation.
In September the South Bend Police Department began a subscription with LeadsOnline.
LeadsOnline is an online database that is national in scope and assist our department in the
management of information reported pertaining to transactions occurring at local secondhand
stores, precious metal dealers and scrap metal dealers. LeadsOnline allows for this mandatorily
reported information to be searched and analyzed – checking immediately for stolen property
amongst the sales to our local licensed businesses. In the first three (3) months of our
subscription eighteen (18) stolen items have been located. The cases range from a stolen
handgun being recovered in Garland, TX to four (4) stolen cell phones being sold to the ecoATM
in University Park Mall in Mishawaka, IN.
Two former South Bend residents, who were being sought for active burglary investigations,
were identified by pawn transactions they performed out of state at merchants who was
mandated to report their transactions to LeadsOnline. Information pertaining to their possible
new residences was forwarded to those local law enforcement agencies for apprehension.
Active work with the South Bend City Council, South Bend Public Works, and South Bend
Licensing is ongoing to coordinate wording of the applicable South Bend City Ordinances to
cover all reporting needs for proper LeadsOnline reporting, proper identification of seller and
property, as well as complete compliance with Indiana State laws and regulations. A tentative
time table of the end of January should have a better understanding of when the idea of full
compliance can be in effect.
The BU has continued to actively stay engaged with community outreach by attending monthly
Neighborhood Watch Captain meetings as well as Neighborhood Association meetings when
alerted to their scheduling by South Bend Police Crime Prevention. The BU operates a
Facebook page with 339 Likes where communication of trends, happenings and crime
prevention information pertaining to burglary issues is shared and discussed regularly. The BU
also actively monitors the conversations and concerns expressed by various city residents
through their own neighborhood Facebook pages and email listserv posts. On several occasions
concerns or issues were raised through these email or Facebook discussions and BU members
responded almost immediately prior to actual police calls to service being placed.
Metro Homicide Unit
In 2013 MHU investigated a total of 34 cases throughout the county. These offenses included
aggravated assaults, suicides, natural deaths, accidental deaths, natural deaths and cold cases.
12 of those cases were deemed homicides. 9 of those homicide cases occurred in the city of
South Bend with one of those being a "justified homicide" involving a city police officer.
12 Homicides Countywide - 9 in city of South Bend (1) justified.
8 Aggravated Battery
2 - Suicides
3 - Natural causes
4 - Assisted cases (non-homicide technical assistance.)
2 - Accidentals
1- Other
2 - Cold Cases
Special Victim’s Unit
Total # of cases that came to the unit for 2013: 3953
Total # of cases investigated by our unit for 2013: 1328
DV/DV Related: 1880 cases; 379 investigated
Sex Act Adult: 141 Cases; 122 Investigated
Sex Act Child: 579 Cases; 430 Investigated
Neglect: 253 Cases; 34 Investigated
Physical Abuse: 725 Cases; 290 Investigated
Misc. kid cases: 175 Cases; 34 Investigated
Non DV/ Non Sex/ Non Kid: 200 Cases; 39 Investigated
Crime Lab
NUMBER OF CASES:
Latent Print Section 636
Lab (Processing evidence, vehicles, etc.) 439
Firearms / Toolmark 86
Video Analysis / MVR / Photo 1,328
Total Cases/Requests 2,489
LATENT PRINT SECTION:
AFIS Fingerprint Hits (IDs) 90
Total Fingerprint IDs 190
AFIS Palm Print Hits (IDs) 40
Total Palm Print IDs 67
Finger and palm print IDs from lab processing 103
Fingerprints registered in AFIS 353
Palm Prints registered in AFIS 133
LAB:
Total cases evidence processed 439
Vehicles processed 38
Trace/DNA 82
Footwear/Tire 4
ISP Submittals 28
Scenes processed 3
Latent print cases for processing 389
FIREARMS/TOOLMARK:
Cases 86
Total firearms test fired for IBIS 451
SBPD firearms test fired for IBIS 272
Total IBIS entries 860
IBIS Hits (IDs) 13
Total firearms traced 275
Total cases with identification 65
VIDEO ANALYSIS / MVR (Mobile Video Recorders)
Total Requests 1,328
- Video Analysis 131
- MVR / Photo Requests 1,197
U.S. Marshal Great Lakes Regional Task Force
Total number of arrests: 384
Total number of warrants served: 441
Felony warrants: 368
T&M warrants: 43
Probate attachments: 9
Circuit: 2
Out of county: 22
Marijuana seized 4,487.73g (9 pounds 15 oz)
Cocaine seized 312.28 grams
Heroin seized 15.24 grams
Firearms recovered 9
Metro Special Operations Section
MSOS continues with our commitments to the Federal Task Forces, these agreements are
providing our community with additional resources to combat the illegal narcotic trafficking
and the removal of firearms that are ever present in our community. MSOS continued to
concentrate on the removal of drug traffickers with in the cities of Mishawaka and South Bend.
The unit infiltrated mid-level and large scale trafficking organizations that were responsible for
trafficking multi-million dollars’ worth of narcotics. These targets as a result were incarcerated
in either state or federal prison. These investigations also led to the seizure of their assets and
currency.
K-9 Team: This is our primary interdiction team. Pfc. Strabavy and his partner Justice have been
working together for just over a year now. The team generated 64 interdictions cases, working
with the parcel package services, motels and public transportations services. This team is
responsible for some very large seizures of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and meth.
AFT&E Taskforce officers: The taskforce officers work as a group and conduct investigations;
their area of responsibility is the central counties in Northern Indiana. They work gun cases
that involve a felon in possession, a drug user/dealer in possession, arson, explosives, saw-off
shotguns, suppressors and false statements to federal officers or to obtain firearms, along with
a variety of other federal laws as the pertain to firearms and explosives. The officers regularly
testify in federal court, interview suspects, prepare and execute search warrants. The taskforce
works closely with uniformed officers, detectives and all the metro units. The taskforce officers
work out of office space located in the downtown South Bend along with the homicide unit.
DEA Taskforce officers: The taskforce officers much like the AFT&E officers work closely with
the northern Indiana area police agencies concentrating on narcotic investigations. They also
work as a team with the ability to reach to agents throughout the United States and foreign
countries during investigations. They conduct surveillances, interviews, prepare affidavits,
testify before grand juries and federal court and adopt local investigations for federal
prosecution. They also provide the mechanism to seize assets through the federal system. The
taskforce officers work out of office space located in the downtown South Bend Federal
building.
Seizures: MSOS seized assets totaling more $350,000. The assets seized were from defendants
involved in either State or Federal prosecutions.
METHAMPHETAMINE LABS: MSOS has 3 (2 SBPD &1 MPD) State of Indiana certified
Clandestine Laboratory technicians, who are qualified to process and remove
methamphetamine clandestine labs. The hazardous materials are documented and then
transported to the Indiana State Police disposal site in Bremen, Indiana. MSOS responded and
processed 27 sites this year.
SWAT: The team was activated for most of search warrants; they gain entry and when secure,
then turn the scenes over to MSOS, who continue to investigate. The unit has been training its
officers to be able to serve search warrant and reduce the amount of SWAT call outs.
NEW TECHNOLOGY: MSOS purchased an advanced phone technology software system to
capture, enhance and store audio/video evidence. This technology utilizes smartphone features
to capture the evidence. Along with this software the unit upgraded to smartphones for the
investigators. We purchased GPS tracking devices to enhance investigations through the
monitoring and recording of target vehicle movements.
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Target arrested and SW seized 8 ounces of cocaine, gun, and $13,000.00. When to a
secondary location and seized an indoor grow operation w/ 40 plants.
• Working a major target capable of supplying multi-kilos of cocaine/marijuana monthly.
• Interdiction cases with K-9 alert seizing 2 kilos of Heroin, several ounces of black tar
heroin. Another case several ounces of Crystal Meth both cases referred to DEA regional
groups. Over 20 lbs. of marijuana and 9 weapons
• Reverse Sting (Buy/Bust) of target Winbourne, MSOS officer posed as major cocaine
dealer and agreed to sell Winbourne 1 ½ kilo of cocaine. MSOS officer and Winbourne met at
local restaurant where Winbourne during the arrest attempted to flee using his vehicle to string
MSOS vehicles and attempted to string MSOS officers who fired striking Winbourne’s vehicle.
Winbourne was arrested and charged with attempted Murder along with several narcotic
violations as well. MSOS seized over $60,000.00 and a vehicle.
MSOS Conducted a Search Warrant at the residence of a local cocaine dealer, who cooperated
and set up his supplier who delivered a kilo of cocaine. He also cooperated and set up his
supplier who was arrested with 2 kilos of cocaine.
• Major Target arrested and being prosecuted through the Federal system. Conducted a
K-9 sniff-over and subsequence search on his vehicle
• Locating approximately $50,000.Conducted additional permits on his residence and car
lot business. Seizures totaled $55,000, handgun and a small quantity of cocaine.
MSOS unit continues working along other Federal, State and local agencies concentrating our
efforts on the dealers responsible for trafficking narcotics in our area. The officers assigned are
committed to remove the dangerous narcotics and those responsible from the streets of our
community. The following statistics reflect the quantity of cases generated by MSOS:
Search Warrants 36
Permits to Search 95
Narcotic purchases 209
Interdiction cases 64
Weapons Seized 78
Processed cases 1127
Narcotics seized during 2013 are as follows:
Cocaine 10,250 grams...................... Street Value of 2.1 million
Crack 315 grams........................ Street Value of $63,000
Marijuana 80,000 grams................. Street Value of $465,000
Methamphetamines 650 grams......... Street Value of $130,000
Heroin 1600 grams..................... Street Value of 1.5 million
Other various drugs…………………….. Street Value of $250,000
The Street Value of the drugs seized during the year totals more than $4.5 million.
Crime Stoppers
Total Cases: 154
Total Arrests: 157
Stolen Property Recovered: $ 2,000
Recovered Narcotics: $152,570
Rewards Paid: $28,000
Services Division
Communications Center & Front Desk
Communications Center Dispatching & Calls For Service:
· 89,707 Police Dispatches
· 4,481 Fire Dispatches
· 11,072 EMS Dispatches
Total Dispatches 105,260
Communications Center In-Bound Telephone Calls
· 91,403 9-1-1 Telephone Calls Received
· 68,529 Police Department Administrative Calls Received
· 11,478 Fire Department Administrative Calls Received
Total Communications Center Inbound Calls Received 171,410
Communications Outbound Telephone Calls
· 37,172 Police Administrative Outbound Calls
· 3,040 Fire Administrative Outbound Calls
Total Communications Center Outbound Calls Placed 40,212
Total Calls Processed by Communications Center 211,622
Upgraded to new ADSI CAD 4G software. This gave greater functionality to dispatchers as well
as more information to field units.
Began the process of moving towards consolidated PSAP for St Joseph Count
Front Desk Police Reports & Other Services to the Public:
· Primary Call Takers for Police Administrative Telephone Lines
· 21% of all formal Police Reports taken
· 880 Fingerprint Cards processed
· 65% of all Vehicle Identification Checks
IT / COMPUTER SERVICES
The Computer Services area of the South Bend Police Department has had a very busy year.
We have transitioned from older technology to the newest including wireless mobile units,
virtual servers and web based applications.
Computer Services has completed the install of 2 new Dell virtual servers along with a variety of
hardware and infrastructure upgrades including switches, storage, UPS and cabling.
Upgrades to both Police/Fire RMS (Records Management Software), CAD (Computer Aided
Dispatch) and MDT (Mobile Data Terminals) applications with more robust enhancements.
Implementation of Net Motion and 2-factor authentication software to provide stable suspend-
and resume mobile connections.
Implementation of new ALPR (Automated License Plate Reader) software to assist with tracking
and identifying license plates.
A 40% increase in mobile devices that includes the additional laptops and tablets purchased
during the year.
Purchase and implementation of Apple iPads for some members of the Investigative Division.
Transitioned 200+ laptops, in the patrol division, to mobile Police Department suite. Officers
have same access to software as all in-house workstations.
Training of 200+ patrol officers on all new technologies implemented.
Large increase in data retrieval/extractions from Police Department Records and CAD systems.
(some examples)
· SB Nuisance Housing Ordinance
· John Jay College-Target Offender Program
· IBM Smarter Cities
· Code for America-Socrata Data Project
· Ad Hoc Requests (internal)
· Public Access Requests (external)
TRAINING BUREAU
The South Bend Police Department has compiled the following statistics concerning training in
2013.
· 18,808 hours of training were provided to South Bend Police Officers & everyone that
attended the South Bend Regional Police Academy and In Service Training. It is noted
that a total of 28 Regional classes were presented where 427 South Bend Officers and
879 Regional Officers attended.
· In addition, those traveling to away schools totaled an additional 11,950.25 hours. The
combined total of both is 30,758.25 hours.
· The Regional Academy Budget: January 1, 2012 $59,922.63
December 31, 2012 $61,793.41
Funding for the budget is provided by fees paid by Regional Academy Members.
· As in the past few years, overtime for training events continues to be held to a minimum
with officers attending many (up to one hour) training subjects while on duty. These
training sessions include: Firearms, Emergency Vehicle Operations, Defensive Tactics,
C.P.R and In-service Roll Calls.
Below are some examples of the training topics in 2013:
· Crime Scene Photography and Processing
· Gordon Graham and Risk Management
· Legal Update
· Carbine Rifle Training
· State Mandated Training
· Field Officer Training (FTO)
· SFST and TOPS (Standard Field Sobriety Testing & Traffic Occupant Protection)
· Below 100
· Diversity Training
· Ongoing monthly training for K-9, Bomb Squad, Swat & Rapid Response Team.
· Continued supervisors training thru the Police Executive Leadership Academy.
· Police Ethics
· Training thru our partnership with the United States Attorney/Northern District.
· Eight firearms training sessions offered to the entire department and all officers
completed at least 2 hours of Firearms Training required by Academy Mandates.
· All officers completed a minimum of 2 hours of Emergency Vehicle Operations training
as required by Academy Mandates.
· All officers complete a minimum of 2 hours of Defensive Tactics classes as required by
Academy Mandates.
· 2 sessions of Women’s Self Defense classes were provided to the public.
2013 Hiring and Recruitment: The South Bend Police Department continues in its efforts to
maintain a workforce of knowledgeable, educated and diverse officers. We attempt to plant the
concept of being a law enforcement officer in the minds of young people by going into the
intermediate level schools by being a presenter on career days. We also take out the time and
make ourselves available for question and answer time. We also extend ourselves by being
present in High Schools by doing class presentations and career day events. Our very strong
presence in schools through the School Resource Officer (SRO) program delivers our
department and brand to children throughout the school year. Also, the Police Athletic League
(PAL) programs place officers in contact with hundreds of kids throughout the summer months
as a variety of athletic programs are offered. The PAL also sponsors the Cinco de Mayo and El
Dia de los Reyes outreach events in which hundreds more are introduced to officers.
On the college level, we make our presence known by attending career fairs and speaking with
Criminal Justice classes. For the past few years we have started speaking with the academy
classes at IU Bloomington and Northwest. This has been a tremendous benefit as we have hired
several officers from these academies. This year we have also travel to Michigan State
University, Ball State, The Ohio State University, and Indiana University South Bend just to
name a few. This year the department has hired 9 officers consisting of 6 male Whites, 1 male
Black, and 2 male Hispanics. This hiring also included Chief Ron Teachman.
Cadet Program: The South Bend Police Department has 3 positions to fill as of this date. Our
current cadet, Carter Thompson has been a valuable asset by assisting in our lab and is
currently assigned to the Detective Bureau. Cadet Thompson will be graduation from IUSB this
spring and has turned in his application for employment as a sworn officer. The Cadet Program
continues to be an asset to our recruitment and hiring program by offering paid tuition in trade
for part time work and future employment.