Thornton Police Department

To provide the committee with an overview of the Thornton Police Department

Purpose

• Culture• Recruitment• Hiring Process• Background Investigation• Training• Complaint Process• Early Intervention• Policies / Procedures

Agenda

• Thornton PD Culture• Core Values• Elevated hiring standards, selective hiring process• Goal: representative of the Thornton community• High expectation of officer conduct• Psychological Support for Officers

Culture

Recruitment StrategyThe Thornton Police Department actively participates in several ethnic, cultural, racial and gender-specific recruiting events, which includes:

• City of Thornton Festivals• P.O.S.T. Academy career fairs• Diversity Employment Day by City Career Fair• Women in Law Enforcement Symposium by the Federal Bureau of

Investigations• LatPro for Hispanic and Bilingual Professionals• Numerous Military specific recruiting events• Denver Native American Festival• Government Career Day at CU Denver Auraria Campus• In-house developed Career night recruiting event• High School and Middle School Career Fairs• Metro wide Law Enforcement question and answer panels• Front Range Community Criminal Justice Recruiting Event

• Job requirements for a police officer include:o High school diploma or GEDo Must be at least 21 years of ageo Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certificate o Valid Colorado driver's license with a safe driving record

• Hiring process steps (each step requires successful completion to move forward in the process):o Job posting by Human Resourceso Application – which is reviewed by Human Resources and subject matter

expertso Written testing – which evaluates cognitive and integrity of the applicanto Oral board interview – conducted by hiring and background personnelo Interview with Chief of Police and Executive Staff Membero Psychological Examo Physical Examo Final offer by Human Resources

Job Requirements and Hiring Process

The background investigation includes:• Personal History Statement and Waiver of

Confidentiality• Contacting previous employers, references,

friends, neighbors, family, any further identified people during the process

• Education, Criminal, and Financial History• In-depth review of all social media• Home Visit (one of the few agencies that conducts

these)• Computerized Voice Stress Analyzer (Lie

Detector)• Ride along with a field training officer

Background Investigation Process

Officer Ethnicity

Ethnicity Count %

Amer Indian/Alaskan 2 1.2%

Black(Not His/Lat) 3 1.8%

Hispanic/Latino 16 9.4%

Nat Haw/Pacific 3 1.8%

Two or more 1 0.6%

White(Not His/Lat) 145 85.3%

Gender Count %

Female 19 11.2%

Male 151 88.8%

Ethnicity Count %

Amer Indian/Alaskan 3 1.3%

Asian (Not His/Lat) 2 0.8%

Black(Not His/Lat) 6 2.5%

Hispanic/Latino 30 12.6%

Nat Haw/Pacific 3 1.3%

Two or more 5 2.1%

White(Not His/Lat) 189 79.4%

Gender Count %

Female 37 15.5%

Male 201 84.5%

2015 2019

2019 Census Data – Thornton Ethnicity

Training• Training is the backbone of Thornton PD• Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) academy

training o 6 months

• In House Recruit Academy o 3 months

• Field Training Program o 4 months (classroom and performance oriented)

• Ongoing In-Service Training o 134 hours in 2019o Requirement by POST is 24 hours

• Advanced Training to Officers o 5,070 in 2019

• Focused on After Action Review and feedback

Complaint Process• Complaints can be filed:

o in persono online on our webpageo through the My Thornton Appo through email o by telephoneo through a department supervisoro internally by peers

• Investigated and reviewed at all levels of police department supervision, up to and including the Chief of Police as well as the Professional Standards Unit

Complaint Tracking and Resolution• Tracked and maintained in an early intervention system

to identify patterns of behavior that require corrective measures

• Corrective measures may include:o disciplineo remedial trainingo coaching or counseling o employee assistance

2019• Admin Reviews 2• Citizen Complaints 30• Compliments 170• Failed to Follow Procedure 54• Performance Reviews 34• Response to Resistance 76• Supervisory Review 10• Vehicle Accident 33• Vehicle Pursuit 8

Early Intervention Statistics2020 YTD

• Admin Reviews 1• Citizen Complaints 11• Compliments 65• Failed to Follow Procedure 23• Performance Reviews 5• Response to Resistance 30• Supervisory Review 3• Vehicle Accident 8• Vehicle Pursuit 5

2019• Verbal Counseling 75• Corrective Actions 43• Resigned 2• Training Issue 4• Written Reprimand 8

Early Intervention Outcomes

2020• Verbal Counseling 23• Corrective Actions 8• Resigned 1• Training Issue 1• Written Reprimand 2

• 170 Department Policies• Categories

o Law Enforcement Role and Authorityo Organization and Administrationo General Operationso Patrol Operationso Traffic Operationso Investigation Operationso Equipmento Support Serviceso Custodyo Personnel

TPD Policy Manual

• Policies undergo continuous validation and review by subject matter experts to ensure compliance with National Best Practices

• Lexipol legal review• Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement

Accreditation (CALEA)• Annual review of entire policy manual

Policies and Procedures