Reply from Chief Ramsey, February 7, 2007
Greetings Carl,
I wanted to take a
second to respond to your email from the other day. As the Chief of the
Fontana Police Department I am always open input from those within the
community. Let me start by saying I appreciate your many years of
service and experience in public service and corrections; this is very
noble work indeed. I also applaud the fact that you are continuing your
work and serving as a guard to protect assets within our communities.
Upon reviewing your correspondence I was unable to locate a specific
instance where an FPD officer mistreated you, or one of your partners.
There were many generalizations, but I would be interested in any
specifics related to unprofessional conduct or inappropriate behavior,
as that is unacceptable in our department. With that said, I would like
to note that many of our officers have prior experience in security,
many of them have actually worked private security prior to being hired,
attending the police academy, finishing the Field Training Program,
then serving the citizens and stakeholders of our community. I can also
tell you that many of our officers have actually relied upon private
security personnel to assist them in situations involving physical
confrontation, where force was being administered, and backup was not
readily available. Such experiences in, and with, private security make
them compassionate to the daily challenges in the field and less likely
to be “arrogant, condescending, or rude” as you noted.
I would like you to
know that all members of the Fontana Police Department are tasked with
adhering to the vision of CARES. CARES stands for:
C – Community
A – Attention
R – Respect
E – Empathy / Enforcement
S – Service
Our employees are
commissioned to treat all stakeholders in the community with complete
respect when acting in their official capacity. They must pay attention
to the details of their job, as minute as they may be, to enforce the
laws of the State and Federal government and the community. This
service to the community needs to be done with the mindset of helping
and tending to all the needs of the community in an empathetic and
caring manner. I am not naive enough to believe that we are always
perfect, but I am confident that the vast majority of our employees do
an outstanding job on a daily basis in service to the stakeholders in
the City of Fontana.
Once again, I
appreciate your perspective, and your dedication to service, and please
let me know if there was a specific instance of inappropriate behavior
by any of our employees so we can look into it more thoroughly.
Respectfully,
Bob
Robert W. Ramsey, Chief of Police
Fontana Police Department
Dear Chief Ramsey,
First of all, thank you for taking the time to respond to my open letter and your kind words and reassurances that the Fontana Police Department is above reproach and their professionalism is one of your highest expectations and demands of the job in the sense of carrying out their statutory duties and civic responsibilities to join other groups, including security officers to make our communities better. I believe you are sincere in your words and expectations.
My comments were generalized on purpose. Although it was a group action or conversation, we all agreed there were no specific statutory or unethical wrongdoings that needed to be addressed at this time. It [letter]was meant to serve as an awareness measure, not an allegation of misconduct or wrongful ethical behaviors. It is good to know that there is a common link or bond between your officers and security officers with knowing the facts they too have “actually worked private security prior to being hired” as a police officer. Empathy is a powerful tool in communications. Therefore, I hope their attention is appropriately drawn and the respect is mutual as we greatly respect the police workforce as true professionals.
As for the reliance factor – that’s our most important issue with any police department – knowing the call made will be taken seriously and that the response time is based on the urgency of the calls made or nature of the incident. Rest assured, there isn’t one security officer that I know or worked with who would not respond or assist any officer in danger or need of assistance when “backup” is not “readily available.” Your “CARES” acronym says it all and puts it into the proper perspective for all of us to understand clearly.
C – Community
A – Attention
R – Respect
E – Empathy / Enforcement
S – Service
I am confident that you took the open letter seriously and shared it with your workgroup and hopefully, all supervisors who oversee the field operations in practice and in performance. I thank you for your time and awareness of this matter and am glad you understood the letter to be a letter of concern so that security officers do not feel like they are a “nuisance or a burden” whenever they call for help or assistance with their execution of duties.
Like you I am also not naïve “enough to believe that we [security] are always perfect. I have worked with individuals who did not meet the minimum requirement for the job and reported this to the appropriate supervisors. I take this job seriously and demand the same respect from our profession as you do yours. We are all, in fact, involved in doing a job and service to the stakeholders of our communities and respective cities including the city of Fontana.
Once again, it is good to know your moral, legal and ethical expectations of your officers and your dedication to public service. This communique has been most enlightening for many who read it and to know, the Chief of Police in Fontana is responsive to community and public service (municipal, state, or private) inquiries and concerns as well as the performance and demeanor of all Fontana police officers on or off duty.
Respectfully submitted,
Carl ToersBijns,
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