Mount Vernon Police Citizen Academy Week 3

Mount Vernon, WA:   The Mount Vernon Citizen Academy class outline for week three is: Crime Prevention/Patrol Division and neighborhood Deployment.  The were taught by C.S.O. Jon Skiffington and Lt. Greg Booth, both with the  Mount Vernon Police Department.

The Crime Prevention Team constists of Lt. ChrisCammock, Sergeant Jeff Nelson, CSO Jon Skiffington, CSO Megan Keck and 12 RSVP/COPP members.  The RSVP members are Retired Senior Volunteers on Patrol. The perform vacation checks, data entry,  crime analysis and much more for the Mount Vernon Police Department. COPP members are Citizens on Proactive Patrol and the are all former Mount Vernon Police Department Citizen Academy Graduates. They help with monthly training, advisory boards, weekend patrols, evidence searches, bicycle recovery, traffic control, graffiti documentation and much more.  There are approximately 30 COPP volunteers with the MVPD. They log approximately 4300 volunteer hours a year.

The Crime prevention division hosts a variety of different public education events, community events, and really tries to get the community involved in policing through varies different avenues. Some of those avenues are Block watch programs, The Citizens Academy, Graffiti abatement,  Facebook posts, press memos, webpages, eNews, Cops Corner and more.

If you are hit with Graffiti, the Mount Vernon Police Department has programs in place to assist homeowners with the removal of graffiti. They can  also provide homeowners with small amounts of graffiti remover at no charge. Home owners can contact the Mount Vernon Police Department for more information on the Graffiti removal options and resources they have available. The quicker graffiti is found and removed the less likelihood there is  of others spraying graffiti in the same area.   The MVPD also works with the juvenile probation services and assist juvenile offenders by having them paint over graffiti to work off their community service hours.

There are over 80 block watch groups in Mount Vernon and the Mount Vernon Police use  a wide variety of resources and groups for crime prevention in their city.

The 2nd half of the class was taught by Lt. Greg Booth. He is responsible for the patrol division of the Mount Vernon police department. In 2006, the Mount Vernon Police department responded to 24,572 service calls. The population at the time was 28,710.  In 2014, The Mount Vernon Police department responded to 21,276 calls for service. The Population was 33,170.  The population of Mount Vernon in that time frame grew by approximately 5000 people, yet the calls for service declined by over 3,000 calls.  This is a sign of some really good community policing.   The busiest time of the day for MVPD is between 2 pm and 6 pm. This is also the time when the amount of people in the city nearly doubles with people coming into Mount Vernon to work and shop.

One thing I found interesting were the top calls for service statistics.  In 2007, the number one call for service was Suspicious persons with 1765 calls for service. That is still true in 2014, with 1659 calls for service.  The number two calls for service in 2007 were traffic enforcement calls. In 2014, the number two call for service was theft. MVPD responded to 1,299 calls for theft. 357 of those calls were for theft from Wal-Mart in 2014. This actually shows that Wal-Mart is very proactive and their loss prevention staff is on top of shoplifting activities. In 2007, the number three call for service was 9-1-1 hang ups with 1,442 hang up calls reported. In 2014, the number three call for service was Alarms.  this included Fire alarms, burglary alarms, ect. They had 1,169 calls for service for alarms last year.  The fourth highest calls for service were the same for 2007 and 2014. In 2007, MVPD responded to 1,429 animal problem complaints. In 2014, the MVPD responded to 1,070 animal related problems.

The Patrol division is made up of multiple divisions. The Uniform Patrol is probably the one you see the most of.  They also have the Traffic Unit and special operations teams such as K-9, Priority Policing Team, specialized Gang training and Investigations (PPT), Neighborhood Resource Officers (NRO) , specific to certain neighborhoods, such as the Kulshan Creek neighborhood and Westhill, which provides police services from the Westhill Neighborhood Station at the Mount Vernon High School, Middles School Resource Officer (SRO), which provides police services at Laventure and Mount Baker Middle School. They also have Animal Control. The animal control officer is the first to respond to animal-related calls for service. They also investigate dangerous dogs, animal licensing, and provide pet shop inspections. They work closely with the Skagit Humane Society.  MVPD also has a Police Tactical Operations Team (PTO), that responds to high risk situations that require specialized tactics and/or equipment.  Some of the situations they  respond to are: hostage situations, armed suicidal persons  , high risk search warrants, persons with a gun and more.   The MVPD also has a Crisis Negotiation Team. They have specialized expertise, training and equipment. They are trained in Hostage incidents, suicidal persons, mental health issues and most tactical situations.

The Patrol division of Mount Vernon covers  14 Zones. They are Z1. Historic Downtown. Z2. Centerpoint. Z3: Digby Heights, z4. Waugh Hill,  Z5. Thunderbird,  Z6. Senerca Highlands, Z7. Centenial Ridge (around school), Z8. North River Commercial, Z9. Fir Hill, Z10. West Mount Vernon, Z11. South Mount Vernon, Z12. HillCrest Medical District, Z13. Westhill, Z14. Kulshan Creek

 

To Learn more about the Mount Vernon Police Department, please visit their website by clicking here: MOUNT VERNON POLICE DEPARTMENT Patrol Division.

You can also Follow the Mount Vernon Police Department on Facebook.