Spurberry Police Department's three-pronged vice prevention strategy

Vice refers specifically to crimes of a moral nature and usually refers specifically to prostitution, gambling, and also the dealing of drugs. Vice activities are defined differently by different communities and in general do not represent the laws of the nation or even of the state. Moreover, vice crimes are to be contrasted with crimes of a violent nature. Vice crime is community-defined; local laws generally reflect the social and political beliefs of its citizens as well as their expectations of the character of the jurisdiction. The town of Spurberry has a relatively low incidence of violent crime but vice crime is relatively common. Therefore, the Spurberry Police Department has had to beef up its vice squad in response to the growing needs of the community.

Spurberry is a mid-sized suburban town in the American Midwest with a population of 20, 371. The population is largely middle-class and mostly Caucasian. Spurberry has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. Each season poses unique problems for the Spurberry Police Department's vice squad, which contends with a wide range of criminal problems. However, violent crimes are less common in Spurberry than the big three: prostitution, gambling, and drugs. Spurberry's rate of non-violent crimes in these three categories is relatively high when compared with other towns of the same population and demographics. However, though an aggressive attempt to hire qualified officers from other police jurisdictions in the state, Spurberry's Vice Squad has demonstrated excellence in law enforcement. In fact, two years in a row the Spurberry Vice Squad has won awards for crime prevention and number of successful prosecutions of vice crimes. Several upcoming community events taking place in Spurberry demand a revamping and updating of the Vice Squad's policing policies. In particular, the Spurberry Police Department Vice Squad will implement a three-pronged approach to vice prevention: persistent patrolling; rapid response; and prompt enforcement of the law including speedy processing of reported vice crimes.

The upcoming community events that cause the Vice Squad to exhibit extra caution and concern include the Spurberry High School Carnival at the end of the month; a large concert being held in the town park that will include concession stands and rides; and the Junior and High School Proms in the spring. The Vice Squad will approach these events similarly but with specificity regarding the unique situations that might arise in each event.

Because of an increase in funding from state and federal sources due to the increases in population over the past five years in Spurberry, the police department budgeting committee has decided to allocate funds for more patrol cars, improved information technology resources and communications infrastructures, and increased human resources staffed in both field vice and non-field operations such as emergency 9/11 dispatchers and vice squad office workers.

Persistent Patroling

The Spurberry Police Vice Department will be increasingly dedicated to persistent police patroling in the upcoming year. The Vice Department alone will put more patrol cars on the streets especially during the aforementioned events: school carnival, town hall concert, and two proms. The Spurberry Police Department is also in the process of hiring two more vice squad officers from other jurisdictions. These officers should be full members of the vice squad by the end of the year. Therefore, by the time the springtime events such as the junior and high school proms take place, the Spurberry Vice Squad forces will be enhanced.

Persistent Patroling entails encouraging vice squad officers to pay particularly close attention to areas targeted by perpetrators of vice crimes such as prostitution, gambling, and drug dealing. For example, police will monitor local area bars closely for illegal and organized gambling activities. Such gambling activities include but are not limited to illegal sports betting through book makers as well as the illegal use of gambling and slot machines by minors. Vice squad officers will also persistently patrol neighborhoods known to harbor drug dealers and pimps and prostitutes. Vice squad police will more frequently patrol these areas in squad cars as well as under cover in an attempt to prevent crimes before they occur and arrest suspects during and after the criminal incidents. Patrolling efforts will be further concentrated around local schools and community centers where children and young adults are located to protect this valuable segment of the Spurberry population. Especially during the school-related events, increased patrolling of school areas will be helpful in reducing crime rates and apprehending criminals.

Rapid Response

The Spurberry Vice Squad is dedicated to rapidly responding to reported and unreported crimes. Responding to crime takes two main forms: crimes that are directly witnessed by officers of the law and crimes that are witnessed by citizens, either as non-involved eye witnesses or as victims or anonymous tipsters. The Spurberry Vice Squad will also work in close tandem with the emergency 9/11 service to provide a rapid response to crimes reported through that system. For crimes like prostitution, gambling, and drug dealing, however, the emergency 9/11 system is often ancillary. Therefore, the vice squad patrol cars must be linked through communications systems. These systems are currently being updated by the department. For example, all squad cars will have sophisticated computer systems installed that will help officers respond rapidly to vice crimes.

Conclusion: Looking to the Future

One of the reasons Spurberry has been able to lure police officers from other areas of the state is because the town of Spurberry is growing economically and offers a wealth of opportunity for growth and development. The town is also attractive to new officers because of its natural surroundings and climate with mild winters compared to other regions of the state. Also, as the population increases, Spurberry will eventually be eligible for further increases of state and federal funding; police officers will therefore be awarded higher salaries for their duties and will be attracted to moving to Spurberry as a result. Greater numbers of vice squad police will contribute to the overall public safety of the community. As the community grows, moreover, so will the duties of the vice squad grow more complex. As its population increases, Spurberry will encounter more vice-related problems and will therefore need to boost its police force.