The Beat

Article Achive

VIPD’s New Years Resolutions
January 4, 2006 edition; by Elton Lewis, former Police Commissioner

The Beat by Elton Lewis, former Police Commissioner Main Entry: res•o•lu•tion ; Pronunciation: "re-z&-'lü-sh&n; Function: noun; Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French resolution, from Latin resolution-, resolutio, from resolvere; 1 : a : the act of determining b : the act, when combined with the term “New Years”, of listing specific areas where improvement and/or change has been determined necessary to achieve something different in one’s personal life; c: the act of deciding to make a difference

The top 13 most popular resolutions are: Lose Weight, Pay Off Debt, Save Money, Get a Better Job, Get Fit, Eat Right, Get a Better Education, Drink Less Alcohol, Quit Smoking Now, Reduce Stress Overall, Reduce Stress On-the-Job, Take a Trip and Volunteer to Help Others. I acquired this list from First Gov.gov, the U.S. Government’s Official Web Portal.

The practice of making resolutions dates back to ancient times. New Year resolutions started over 4,000 years ago with the Babylonians, who celebrated their New Year in March to coincide with the spring planting of crops. They believed that what a person does on the first day of the New Year will affect him or her throughout the year; a scary thought if we consider how many of us wake up bleary-eyed on New Year day after a night-long party! I believe I got this obscure piece of information from one of my researchers who in turn found it on the web under the category of life positive, or something like that. My focus this week is appropriately on New Year’s resolutions for the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) and, hopefully, your resolution to help us achieve them.

VIPD Resolutions for 2006:

  1. Manpower: Assure that the law enforcement needs of the citizens of the Virgin Islands are met through the implementation of a strategic and short-term manpower program;
  2. Best Equipment: Assure that our sworn officers have the best equipment necessary to achieve their objectives of being able to protect themselves and the public with the utmost confidence;
  3. Lateral Transfer Program: To develop, implement and maintain a long-term lateral transfer program allowing for the movement of a sworn officer from one position to another with the same maximum compensation. This lateral transfer program will be carried out across regions, and may be either employer-initiated or employee-initiated. This will be a joint agreement of both the “sending” and “receiving” organizations;
  4. Community Relations: Develop the concept that the heart of the VIPD is community relations with the result being contributing solutions and strategies that will help transform the VIPD to be more community oriented through education, more collaboration, building upon the role of the Citizen’s Integration Teams, working hand-in-hand with the public in building a true VIPD/Community partnership;
  5. Recruitment: Build both a long-term and short-term VIPD recruitment program that will attract high quality officers today and inspire the officers of the future;
  6. Customer Relations: Build upon the foundation that has been established around Customer Relations Management developing a best practices customer strategy and process with the purpose of improving customer trust and image. In simple terms, significantly raising the bar of customer service; and
  7. Volunteerism: Plan, organize, coordinate and program manage Virgin Islands VIPD volunteerism resulting in more sworn officers being on the street and significantly increased citizen participation.

You may also consider Volunteerism with the VIPD as one of your New Year’s Resolutions. Where do you begin?

  1. Identify your area of passion in relation to the VIPD, recruitment, volunteerism, auxiliary police, administration, 911, victim advocacy, community relations, strategic planning or any other area where you experience there is a need);
  2. Compose a brief statement expressing your desire to serve and send it to my office;
  3. Be persistent, be a pest, be inappropriate if necessary (this demonstrates your spirit, passion and tenacity to get things done).
  4. You can even provide some recommendations on how you can serve and;
  5. “JUST DO IT!”

I suppose when you get right down to it, Resolution is all a matter of resolve. This is your police department…Let’s resolve to partner on building the best VIPD possible. Happy New Year.

Article Achive