In 2008 we conducted an internal analysis of the police department and went through the strategic planning process. We found that the department needed to do better.
Chronic staffing shortages had negatively impacted our community policing efforts. We had severely fallen behind in technological advancements. Our police facilities were literally crumbling and having a serious impact on operations.
Department members put together a comprehensive five-year strategic plan that served as our road map. The plan was updated yearly and took into account changing internal and external factors.
The staff did such a great job with our strategic plan that it was highlighted in a national publication. We received many calls from other police agencies asking for advice.
By creating a solid strategic plan, department members, other city departments, elected officials and residents knew what our priorities and needs were. As I review our initial needs analysis and strategic plan from 2008, I am proud to say we have had significant success in reaching our goals and addressing operational deficiencies.
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By communicating our goals and objectives, we were able to gain support and successfully achieve them in a fairly quick time period. Much of our success has occurred because of strong support from Mayor Don Ness, city councilors and community and department members. We have accomplished most of our primary goals and objectives that had been in our initial strategic plans.
We are proud of the 93 percent rating of fair, good or excellent performance we received in the 2014 Mayor's Citizen Survey. Still, we know there is still a lot of room for improvement.
It is time again to update and renew our department's strategic plan. There are a few given goals that we are working on, such as the need for a more efficient records management system and the need to stay technologically advanced over the next few months. Still, department members and I will seek input from residents, elected officials, community groups and the business community on how to improve the police department as we update our strategic plan.
On a different note, our officers having been using body-worn cameras since July. So far we have found them extremely valuable on many fronts. The one important issue that we need to resolve is that certain camera footage could be considered public and we need to update and clarify the data practices law. I testified before a legislative committee last month on privacy concerns associated with the cameras. Police departments in Minnesota are seeking clarification on what is private and what is public. We are also seeking to have police body camera footage temporarily classified as private in situations where people have an expectation of privacy. We will continue to work with our elected officials at the Capitol in an effort to clarify laws and protect people's privacy.
Contact Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay at 730-5020 or gramsay@duluthmn.gov .
