In early September, the La Mesa Police Department (LMPD) held two community input sessions to enhance their police services.

The sessions came as a result of the LMPD’s request for an analysis to assess their department, staffing levels and allocation of staff members for efficiency and delivery of police services throughout the La Mesa community.

City Gate LLC, a public sector consultant agency, is conducting the independent analysis — which has been going on for several months. Along with reviewing external documents and collecting data, the community input from the two sessions will be used by City Gate for any recommendations for the LMPD.

Mayor Mark Arapostathis further explained the survey and its importance to the LMPD’s future.

“The study aims to enhance our understanding of best practices concerning personnel assignments, the efficiency and effectiveness of technology and our current and future staffing needs to ensure the delivery of outstanding customer service and safety,” Arapostathis said. “To accomplish this, the study will assess comparable California law enforcement agencies and incorporate valuable community feedback gathered at the community input sessions to formulate recommendations that will serve as a guiding compass for the department’s future endeavors.”

LMPD Chief Ray Sweeney was in attendance for both community sessions and shared his thoughts on the survey.

“We’re doing this with our community in La Mesa,” Sweeney said. “We want to know what we’re doing well and what we can do better.”

Although Sweeney was in attendance, the event was run by City Gate Associates John Carli and Tom Woodward.

Through a detailed PowerPoint, they organized the meeting into four major areas for the LMPD: what works well, what needs improvement, what are opportunities for change and lastly, if you were police chief for a day with an unlimited budget, what changes would you make?

There was a consensus from participants that the LMPD fosters a sense of community through their outreach at the La Mesa Village Farmers Market, Coffee with a Cop, Cocoa with a Cop and HOME program.

Areas for improvement focused on a lack of diversity in the department, communication and marketing outreach, safety enforcement, speed control and engagement with younger audiences. Attendees unanimously agreed that there was a lack of marketing for the sessions and that multiple media avenues should be utilized to engage audiences of all ages and backgrounds in the future.

Technology, safety, social media, separation of law enforcement from mental health services and prevention of crisis were all touched on when community members shared their thoughts on opportunities for change within the LMPD.

For Police Information Officer Katherine Lynch, change and adaptability play a major role in the LMPD’s ability to meet community needs.

“We don’t want to get stuck in thinking, ‘well, that’s just how we’ve always done it,’” Lynch said. “That may require shifting of job duties, realignment of personnel within our different units or possibly the addition of personnel. That doesn’t just mean more police officers; this can include more professional support staff, dispatchers or police officers. Our hope is that the assessment, and any recommendations, will provide additional insight into how we can further evolve and adequately staff each unit within our department. Ultimately, we want to provide the highest level of police services to our community and this study can provide us with an independent assessment that will assist us in achieving that.”

As a hypothetical police chief with an unlimited budget, participants shared their desires for greater community presence, more officers on bike/foot to improve their approachability, growth of the LMPD volunteer program and a separation of mental health services from law enforcement.

At the conclusion of the session, Sweeney shared his hopes for enhancing the LMPD’s staff, trust with the community and visibility.

“We cannot do this job without you [the La Mesa community],” Sweeney added. “We want to be the best police department in California.”

Further information about the analysis, community sessions and more can be found at cityoflamesa.us/1611/Police-Department.