Gloucester Township Receive National Award For 3rd Gear Policing

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — The Gloucester Township Police Department has been recognized for its efforts to address the underlying factors that contribute to crime, the department announced.

The Gloucester Township Police Department has earned the 2018 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Leadership in Community Policing Award (Population 50,001-100,000) sponsored by the Cisco Corporation.

The award came after IACP reviewed the police department’s Third Gear Policing Model of intervention. The model is in addition to the First Gear (arrest and suppression) and the Second Gear (prevention). The Third Gear has helped contribute to an overall reduction in crime of 34 percent, with a 53 percent drop in violent crime from 2009-2017, according to Gloucester Township police.

The model includes the police department’s Project SAVE, where police assist those that have addictions. It also includes the department’s many youth programs which assist first time offending or at-risk youth and their families, and the holistic cornerstone of Third Gear Policing that aims to identify how specific problems arise that contribute to crime and what actions can be taken to eliminate or reduce such problems.
The philosophy is that arrests alone don’t reduce crime.

There has been an increase in arrests of 58 percent from 2009-2017, according to Gloucester Township police.

“This does not mean there is more crime, as it was already noted that crime has been reduced substantially since 2009,” police said in the announcement. “It simply means that more people are arrested for crimes they have committed and then are provided the resources to help them from further criminal activity through the Second and Third gears of our policing model.

“The increase in arrests is the result of strategies where our crime fighting resources are narrowly focused, a significant increase in tips from the community, use of our Eyewatch program, and simply hard work by members of the Gloucester Township Police Department. Such dramatic crime reductions became fully possible once the department pushed forward with the more advanced Third Gear Policing strategies where we employed more precise information based policing, engaged with our community which fostered two-way communications, and focused on arrest coupled with advanced problem solving initiatives.”

“We are thankful to the IACP for recognizing our unique approach to crime,” Gloucester Township Police Chief Harry Earle said. “This community policing leadership award symbolizes much deserved recognition for the men and women of the Gloucester Township Police Department who have bravely pursued arrests while also embracing our new strategies of community policing. This achievement also provides us the opportunity to celebrate this award with our citizens as this recognition is the result of their partnership and support of the Gloucester Township Police Department.”

The attached image was provided by the Gloucester Township Police Department