I would like to start my message with wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season. This is the time of the year we strengthen our love for family and take advantage of the precious moments we have with persons we care about.
As the close of 2021 nears, we reflect on all that we have accomplished TOGETHER as an agency, friends, and colleagues. Despite the challenges, you persevered and served this great community with honor and dignity. In summary, you were able to navigate the complexities of evolving law enforcement expectations, make adjustments to a variety of operational field deployment strategies, clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our SRO Program, adapt to administrative and policy changes, understand the need to adhere to COVID safety guidelines, enhance officer safety/wellness, offer support to those involved in critical incidents, and work through a series of staffing transitions to include myself as Chief.
Looking forward, I believe we have an opportunity to evolve and advance our Department and profession even further. With tremendous community support as our foundation, we will move forward with implementing the initiatives outlined in the Chief Transition Plan. In addition, we will continue to solicit input from our staff on ways in which we prepare for challenges of the future.
As anticipated, the number of adjustments and rate change have started to accelerate. In the coming weeks, we will have a newly promoted Captain, several Lieutenants and multiple Sergeants. This is an exciting time for the Department as we welcome new perspectives to the leadership team and build on the knowledge and contributions of those who previously occupied these positions. Although there are a lot of moving parts to these transitions, I believe we will begin to experience a sense of stability in the next few months.
Recently I tasked all managers and commanders to assess units and groups throughout the Department to ensure we are operating effectively and efficiently. This may require us to think differently and challenge how we have traditionally operated. In an effort to prioritize budget requests and implement the first stage of our department growth plan, we have initiated a “needs assessment” of the various units ahead of the City’s upcoming FY 2022/23 budget meetings. I look forward to sharing options and plans with you very soon.
As we enter 2022, you can anticipate the Department will maintain an aggressive approach in hiring competent and qualified employees without compromising our standards. We will also continue to review our staffing models to ensure responsible deployment of our limited resources. Our commitment to providing a high level of training and professional development opportunities will remain unchanged. The Department will assess equipment needs and make every effort to provide employees the tools needed to serve effectively. We will also continue to emphasize the importance of community engagement and community-based services.
Moving forward, our Department will continue to anticipate future needs, adapt to evolving expectations, and adjust to legislative requirements. It is important that we remind ourselves and understand our community overwhelmingly remained supportive and steady during the time we heard unreasonable and unproductive national narratives to reduce the number of police officers (defunding) and implement extreme unsafe changes to the role of police officers. I believe we all share the desire to enhance the law enforcement profession utilizing practical ideas that do not cause harm to our communities. Policing continues to be a noble profession made up of individuals dedicated to public safety having the desire to honorably serve our community.
With the support of our community, a City Council who believes in our mission, and a City Manager who understands the importance of public safety, Fremont PD has good reason to be optimistic about the upcoming year.
Chief Sean Washington