Agency Review Program (ARP)

INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police (OACP) Agency Review Program (ARP) is to provide management consulting and technical assistance to member chiefs of police and to departments whose Chief is a member of OACP. ARP provides a service for departments, in coordination with their Police Chief, to receive a professional review of police operations and management systems, utilizing recognized law enforcement best practices standards.

The goal of the ARP review is to provide the Chief with an additional management and leadership tool: a critical look at the organization through the eyes of peer professionals. The report should serve as a guide to identify areas that need strengthening and highlight positive and innovative programs and practices. Ideally, the information provided will motivate the organization, as a whole to improve internal and external services and facilitate additional community support.

ARP consultation and technical assistance is intended to provide a tool a Police Chief can use to improve the department, create new energy and provide better and/or broader services to the community.

The department review may be completed of the entire organization, or of a specific function, unit or process of the police department. The specific area and/or focus of the review is in each case determined by the requesting chief of police.

The Agency Review Program is available to all Oregon law enforcement chief executives.  Law enforcement executives are encouraged to utilize the Agency Review Program upon appointment as Chief in order to gain insight and identify priorities and opportunities.

ARP ADVISORY SUBCOMMITTEE:

The Advisory Subcommittee shall be comprised of the Chair of the OACP Executive Resources Committee and 2 command level executives who are current members of the OACP Executive Resources Committee.  The purpose of the subcommittee is to review applications of potential evaluators, all requests for an ARP Review and to identify the most suitable, available team members to complete the review.

AGENCY REVIEW TEAM MEMBERS:

To ensure that ARP provides a quality service to those agencies requesting assistance, a list of managers and administrators who have expressed an interest in serving as potential reviewers is maintained. Those interested in the program are invited to submit their resume and a cover letter with detailed information on their experiences, background and any particular areas of interest and expertise. Applications shall be reviewed by the Executive Resources Committee.

Agency Review teams shall consist of two or three members, one of whom shall be designated as the Team Leader by the ARP Advisory Subcommittee.

The team leader is responsible for the initial communication with the client agency, to gather background information, to establish a team work schedule, to assign the workload among team members, to plan the exit interview, and to submit the final report to the ARP Advisory Subcommittee for final review and approval prior to transmittal to the requesting Chief of Police or appropriate city representative in the absence of a chief.

Every effort will be made by the ARP Advisory Subcommittee to designate teams that are best suited to conduct a particular agency review. At least two team members generally will be from departments that are of similar size and structure as the requesting department. An attempt may be made, depending on the circumstances, to assign at least one team member from (or with prior experience in) the same geographic area as the requesting agency.

The following qualifications are required for any person participating in the ARP as a reviewer:

• Shall be a current Oregon Police Chief, Police Executive or retired Oregon Police Chief, or a Civilian Executive of similar rank in an Oregon law enforcement agency
• Shall possess at least 5 years of command level experience
• Shall be a member in good standing in OACP
• Shall have good writing skills and be able to clearly articulate their review of the agency
• Shall have a strong working knowledge of the policies, procedures, laws and case law related to Oregon law enforcement agencies
• Shall agree to participate and finalize the ARP review in a designated timeframe
• Shall possess good analytical skills
• Shall have permission of their city to participate in an agency review

After reviewing the qualifications, interested OACP members will send the following two separate documents to marie@victorygrp.com:

1. Cover letter that identifies the interested member’s qualifications, notes any experience related to accreditation or other best practice standards and lists any special areas of best practice expertise.
2. Resume

For additional information on the application process, please contact Chief Schmerber (jschmerber@gladstoneoregon.us), Chief Reimann (hreimann@forestgrove-or.gov), or Chief Chase (cchase@cgpolice.org).

HOW TO REQUEST AN AGENCY REVIEW:

1. A request for a department and/or program review must come from the current chief law enforcement executive, i.e., Chief of Police, Interim Chief of Police, or Acting Chief of Police.  If a current vacancy exists in the office of the Chief of Police, the City Manager or other similarly designated official may submit a request for an agency review.
2. A written request must be made to the OACP Executive Director who will forward the request to the Executive Resources Committee Chair.  The committee chair will then convene a meeting of or consult appropriately with the ARP Advisory Subcommittee.
3. The ARP Advisory Subcommittee will review the request and, if approved, will designate a Review Team Leader and an appropriately sized team, depending on the nature of the request.
4. The Review Team Leader will contact the requesting Chief or appropriate City representative and coordinate logistics for the on-site review.

AGREEMENT WITH REQUESTING CITY/AGENCY:

1. Must agree to the financial terms determined for the review
2. Must agree to hold harmless the OACP, Review Team members and lending agencies, and sign appropriate waivers
3. Must agree to fully cooperate with the review
4. Must provide adequate information for reviewers to complete the review
5. Must provide appropriate on-site facilities and resources
6. Must agree on scope of work to be completed

FEE SCHEDULE:

Fees cover expenses and program costs to assure the program’s ability to respond to requests and provide reviewers.  The fee payable to OACP for agencies with 1-15 sworn officers shall be $250.00.  The fee payable to OACP for agencies with 16 or more sworn officers shall be $500.00.  This fee is in addition to expenses for Review Team members and/or their respective agencies.  The OACP fee, or a portion thereof, may be waived if a hardship is deemed to exist.

LIST OF ITEMS REQUIRED FROM THE REQUESTING CITY/AGENCY:

The following items should be sent to the review team leader at least two weeks before arrival at the department, or as otherwise requested. The team leader should follow this checklist and coordinate the delivery of the items from the agency:

• Written agreements, if applicable, with local police agencies
• Scope of authority of the officers
• Copy of the department policies and procedures
• Complete list of positions within the department, an organization chart and a list of personnel showing position titles and dates of hire
• Job descriptions for each classification of employee within the department
• Performance review procedures/forms
• Description of department and facilities including square feet, number of buildings, staff, and any unique situations

• Work schedule of staff (include overtime experienced for past 12 months)
• A copy of any union contract(s)
• Crime statistics for the past three years
• Address of the department’s web site, if applicable
• Copy of the department’s budget
• Copies of department reports such as annual reports, service calls, program activities, and other published program descriptive information available internally and externally
• Additional documents the assessment team may request due to the type of review they are asked to conduct

The above list may be modified depending upon the scope of the review and goals and objectives of a particular review and assessment.

AGENCY REVIEW AND REPORT:

On completion of the on-site review, the Team Leader will coordinate with team members to ensure that individual reports are submitted for inclusion in a final report.  The Team Leader will assemble and complete the final review report.  The report will be forwarded to the ARP Advisory Subcommittee for review.  Following the review, the final report shall be submitted to the Chief of Police or, in the absence of a Chief of Police, to the official making the initial request for the review.