Building trust and nurturing legitimacy on both sides of the police/citizen divide is the foundational principle underlying the nature of relations between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. Research and practice support the premise that people are more likely to obey the law when they believe that those who are enforcing it have authority that is perceived as legitimate by those subject to the
authority. The public confers legitimacy only on those whom they believe are acting in procedurally just ways. 

Examples of the ways the police department works to build trust and legitimacy in our community:

• Office of Professional Standards and Accountability (OPSA): OPSA works to maintain RPD’s professional standards, add transparency and ensure professional accountability. A professional standard executive officer works in conjunction with a civilian professional standards manager (PSM). OPSA promotes trust and integrity of the RPD through its commitment to continuous improvement.
• Professional standards manager (PSM) conducts all internal complaint investigations.
• New Americans Academy: In partnership with Rochester Fire Department, Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, Olmsted County Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Victim’s Services, Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association, Hawthorne Education Center and others held a New Americans Academy.  This academy was made up of four workshops designed to give community members not born in the United States an opportunity to learn about local law enforcement and the criminal justice system. The intent of the program was to enhance communication, understanding and trust between law enforcement officers and Rochester’s immigrant community.
• Police Assisted Recovery (PAR) project: PAR seeks to find new pathways to help people stay out of jail and access drug treatment services. RPD, Zumbro Valley Health Center, Doc's Recovery House, Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, EmPower CTC and Olmsted County Adult Behavioral Health are collaborating on the project.  In 2019, PAR received Mayo Clinic’s Shared Value Award. Watch a short video on PAR.
• Trust is built into the RPD Standard Operating Procedures manual : Trust is referenced nine times in the manual
• Participation in community forums.
• Daily briefing with local media: RPD, along with the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, holds a call each weekday to brief media on newsworthy incidents.
• Publish an annual report summarizing the department’s activities for the last 12 months, providing transparency to the public.
• Outreach with businesses and nonprofits including: Women’s Shelter and Support Center, Bear Creek Services, MN Adult & Teen Challenge, Hope Fuse, Boys and Girls Club, Ronald McDonald House, Salvation Army and many others.
• Implementing a Community Liaison Program to broaden our community outreach: RPD is seeking program funding and collaborating with Barbershop & Social Services to leverage relationships and build connections with communities of color. The Community Liaison Program is part of a broader plan to create a Community Engagement Response Team.
• Collaborate with other agencies on work groups, including Domestic Violence Collaborative Workgroup, Sexual Assault Inter-Agency Council (SAIC) and Children and Family Advocacy
• Revising Citizen’s Police Academy to include scenarios that expose citizens to issues facing law enforcement today such as use of force, use of deadly force, de-escalation and duty to intervene.

Pillar two emphasizes that if police are to carry out their responsibilities according to established policies, those policies must reflect community values. Law enforcement agencies should collaborate with community members, especially in communities and neighborhoods disproportionately affected by crime, to develop policies and strategies for deploying resources that aim to reduce crime by improving relationships, increasing community engagement, and fostering cooperation. 

Examples of the ways the police department demonstrates best practices in policy and oversight:

• New use of force policy in conjunction with the Police Policy Oversight Commission (PPOC) 
• Banning of neck restraints  
• Banning of warrior style training         
• Sentinel Event Review Process -- This is a process for evaluating internal and external critical incidents, similar to the National Transportation Safety Board’s review of transportation accidents. The goal is to identify underlying weaknesses in policies, training or practices.  These reviews are conducted by the OPSA.
• Duty to intervene and report enacted into Standard Operating Procedures manual
• Transitioned to Lexipol policies, based on nationwide standards and best practices while also incorporating state and federal laws and regulations
• Added sanctity of life values to policy
• A Response to Resistance Report is required following every incident using force
• Uphold #8cantwait campaign practices 
• Police Civil Service Commission  
• Collaboration with Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE)  
• Refer cases involving police department staff to outside agencies to avoid conflict of interest  
• Policy prohibiting consent searches of motor vehicles   
• Administrative services manager communicates changes in the law to staff  
• Leverage City of Rochester’s legislative liaison to influence law enforcement issues at the state capital
• Completing and updating policy manual
• Daily Training Bulletins (policy exercises) required before each shift
• Body camera video review audits by supervisors to ensure compliance with body camera policy
• Continue to complete secondary policy review with PPOC
• Developing five-year strategic plan
• Exploring the feasibility of collecting additional data during stops, searches and arrests
• Analyzing calls for service to look for opportunities to improve our public safety response and outcomes 

The use of technology can improve policing practices and build community trust and legitimacy, but its implementation must be built on a defined policy framework with its purposes and goals clearly delineated. Implementing new technologies can give police departments an opportunity to fully engage and educate communities in a dialogue about their expectations for transparency, accountability and privacy. 

Pillar three guides the implementation, use, and evaluation of technology and social media by law enforcement agencies.

Examples of the ways the police department demonstrates best practices in technology and social media:

• Early Intervention System: RPD has implemented an Early Intervention System within our professional standards software to enhance accountability. The system tracks all use of force incidents, citizen complaints and other factors to identify any police officer in need of additional training. The system is monitored and administered by the Office of Professional Standards & Accountability.
• Leverage training and use of less lethal weapons, including pepper balls and 40 mm foam projectiles
• Body worn camera deployment: All RPD officers are required to wear cameras when interacting with the public, enhancing safety for everyone by promoting transparency and helping document incidents  
• Squad cameras  
• Facebook: @RochesterMNPD
• Twitter: @RochesterMNPD
• YouTube: Visit our YouTube Channel
• Utilize I am Responding notification and response app to improve response times and communication
• Accountability dashboard on RPD website makes department data easily accessible
• Creating online police misconduct complaint form  
• Crime Prevention & Communications Coordinator position to manage social media platforms and serve as public information officer
• Creating online community feedback form
• Support legislation for a nationwide database or tracking system of officers dismissed or fired for cause

Pillar four focuses on the importance of community policing as a guiding philosophy for all stakeholders. Community policing emphasizes working with neighborhood residents to coproduce public safety. Law enforcement agencies should, therefore, work with community residents to identify problems and collaborate on implementing solutions that produce meaningful results for the community.

Examples of the ways the police department demonstrates best practices in community policing and crime reduction:

• In collaboration with Olmsted County, expanded the embedded social worker program, known as the Community Outreach Specialist Team, from one to four social workers. RPD was one of the first law enforcement agencies in Minnesota to implement a co-responder model with an embedded social worker program.
• Dedicated Community Services Unit and Captain
• Safe City Nights program: Safe City Nights was designed to provide opportunities for people in all wards of the city to get to know RPD over a meal rather than a time of trouble or need. The initiative was launched with the intention of building, nurturing and strengthening positive relationships. Approximately more than 5,000 people attend the gatherings each summer. Watch a short video about the launch of Safe City Nights.
• Homeless Outreach Plan: RPD is working with stakeholders in both public and private sectors to adopt problem-solving approaches to homelessness.
• Lights On Campaign: To make roads safer for all, RPD is helping drivers replace broken headlights/taillights. Instead of tickets, RPD is giving drivers vouchers to get their light(s) repaired free of charge. This program is possible thanks to a partnership with a non-profit agency and Rochester Motorcars.
• Coffee with a Cop
• Badges and Board Games
• School Resource Officer (SRO) program: RPD has partnered with Rochester Public Schools for roughly 30 years. Officers in the schools build positive relationships and promote a safe learning environment.
• Member of Drug Court evaluation team
• Cops and Kids Bike Program: Officers visit neighborhoods where resources may be limited and repair bikes. In addition, RPD gives bikes and helmets to those who need them.
• Shop with a Cop: This program connects children in need with law enforcement for a fun-filled day of holiday shopping and relationship building. On the day of the event, uniformed officers volunteer their time to take kids to buy presents for their family. Schools, youth organizations and social services agencies identify children to participate in the program.
• Partner with Police Activities League (PAL): This non-profit organization is dedicated to reducing juvenile crime and violence by giving kids a safe place to play, positive role models and creative activities to engage in. RPD sponsors a football and baseball team.
• Night to Unite (formally called National Night Out): This annual event promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.
• Downtown Resource Officer program
• Hospital Resource Officer (HRO) program
• Collaboration with City of Rochester's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director
• Integrating Mayo Clinic Health System’s Community Paramedic Program with co-responder model for non-emergent medical calls

As our nation becomes more pluralistic and the scope of law enforcement’s responsibilities expands, the need for expanded and more effective training has become critical.

Pillar five focuses on the training and education needs of law enforcement.  

Examples of the ways the police department demonstrates best practices in training and education: opportunities: 

• Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview (FETI) training
• Cadet program
• Fair and Impartial Policing (FIP) training agency-wide: RPD requires all officers to attend FIP classes beginning in 2018, long before it became part of the national narrative common today.
• Implicit Bias Training: Officers receive training in recognizing and valuing community diversity and cultural differences to include implicit bias. View our training objectives.
• Conflict Management/Mediation: RPD provides in-service training in conflict management and mediation. View our training objectives.
• Training based on Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics (ICAT) model:  ICAT is designed to fill a critical gap in training police officers in how to respond to volatile situations in which subjects are behaving erratically and often dangerously but do not possess a firearm. 
• Comprehensive police academies and field training program: RPD’s robust training unit has conducted three, eight-week academies over the past two years, adding more than 24 new full-time police officers to the department. The unit also oversees an 18-week field training program officers are required to complete after finishing the academy.
• Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) completed by 80% of sworn staff:  Officers are trained in de-escalation techniques and how to manage a person going through a mental health crisis. Click here to see the training objectives.
• Training emphasizes preservation of life with sanctity of life at the core
• Officers trained on and equipped with defibrillators
• Officers trained in the area of human trafficking
• Investigators trained by CornerHouse on child forensic interviewing
• Training on how to handle incidents where a person tells the officer they can’t breathe
• Internship Program
• Police Explorers
• Revised hiring process focused on character–based hiring
• Ryan Dowd’s Homelessness Training for Local Governments
• Crisis Intervention Training for 100% of sworn staff  
• Cultural awareness and implicit bias training  
• Virtual reality simulator training: This immersive training can be custom-designed for scenarios specific to RPD, bringing officers as close to a real-life experience as possible.

The wellness and safety of law enforcement officers is critical not only for the officers, their colleagues, and their agencies but also to public safety. Pillar six emphasizes the support and proper implementation of officer wellness and safety as a multi-partner effort.  

Examples of the ways the police department demonstrates best practices in officer safety and wellness:

• Annual mental health check-ins with opportunities for additional support
• Partnering with local medical organizations to provide functional fitness training
• Fitness facility located at the North Station
• Peer support
• Critical incident stress de-briefings
• Tactical training workouts with the Olmsted Medical Center Sports Medicine and Athletic Performance team