We can thank Sir Robert Peel (1788 – 1850), considered the father of modern policing, for creating the foundation for today’s police departments. In 1829 Peel established the Metropolitan Police Force for London based at Scotland Yard. Unpopular at first, they proved very successful in reducing crime in London, and by 1857 all cities in Britain were encouraged to form their own police forces.
He kept it simple by using two principals; 1) the basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder, and 2) the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.
Naperville’s Police Department Mission Statement:
To serve the community, while also protecting life and property.
Naperville’s Police Department Values
The pillars for which Naperville’s Mission Statement rests upon are,
- Integrity – We are committed to actions that reflect honestly and integrity at all times
- Employees – We are committed to working together as a team and serving the community with dignity and respect.
- Accountability – We acknowledge, as a department and as a staff, the need to account for and accept responsibility for our actions.
- Community Partnership – We are committed to collaborating with the entire community to build a partnership based on engagement, trust, and transparency as we carry out the great responsibility of enforcing laws and ordinances with the community, not on the community.
- Diversity – We recognize the value of varying backgrounds, beliefs, perspectives, and experiences as being vital to our understanding and meeting the community needs.
Key Police Department Initiatives
The NPD has created numerous initiatives to strengthen its mission, all of which help the residents and businesses of Naperville including:
- Drug Take Back Program
- Gun Take Back Program
- Lock It or Lose It Program
- Safer Naper Program
- Chat With The Chief
- Connect For Life
- Crisis Intervention Team
- A.L.I.C.E. Training Program
- De-Escalation Training Model
- Peer Support Program
- 21st Century Policing Model and The Five Pillars
- Implicit/Explicit Bias Training
- Citizen and Youth Police Academy
- Citizens Community Radio Watch
- Citizens Appreciate Public Safety (CAPS)
- Police Chaplains Program and Prayer Initiative
Critical Issues Impacting Policing (2019 – 2024)
In order to stay ahead of the curve and trends, while always staying true to its mission, the NPD continues to be forward thinking regarding critical issues impacting our community, now and in the future. Four key areas identified are human resources, technology, communication, and collaboration. They include:
- Revolution in emergency communications
- Revolution in technology with current technological advancements occurring every 1.5 years, and moving to be instantaneous within 5 years
- Gun violence / mass shooting / terrorism
- Managing large-scale demonstrations
- Opioid epidemic
- Mental health and suicide cases
- Crime rates & trends
- Recruitment, hiring, retention
- Training, leadership & employment development
- Peer support for personnel
- Cyber crime
- Open data and social media communication
- Customer expectations and needs
- Community and police agency collaboration & partnerships
- Intelligence led policing
- Gold standard performance-based organizational structure
- Legislation and unfunded mandates such as body cameras
- Youth and senior population
- Crime prevention programing
- Traffic education and enforcement
- Firearms Restraining Order Act
- Economy and budget
- Problem-oriented policing
One can only imagine that Sir Robert Peel would be proud to see and know what the Naperville Police Department has accomplished with the foundation that he created.