City of Lincoln
Police Department
Police Department
lincoln.ne.gov
Problem Oriented Police Projects (POP Projects) are designed to impact unique or repetitive issues by implementing specific strategies to target the problem. This is a form of community policing in which the Department actively works with the others to understand and address the issues that lead to crime within our city. The Lincoln Police Department tries to be proactive and stay aware of developing crime trends within the city. These highlighted POP Projects are just a few that our officers have undertaken in 2008. In 2007, 160 projects were completed by officers city-wide.
| Problem Oriented Policing Projects 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee | Location | Date Started | Project Description | Stage of Completion | |
| SE Team, Community Services |
Southeast Team | September 2008 | The Southeast Team continues to have open garage burglaries at all times of the day and night. Residents leave overhead garage doors open allowing easy victimization. To combat the problem, officers on Southeast Day shift participated in "Project Hang Ten". Each officer distributed educational fliers at residences found with open garage doors. A letter was also sent to over 300 Neighborhood Watch Coordinators. The letters, which asked coordinators to educate neighbors, helped to cover a larger geographical area. Though the project did not show a direct decrease in the number of burglaries, the decrease in potential victims is immeasurable. The project allowed officers to increase awareness and presented a good opportunity for positive interaction within the community. | Project Complete | |
| Center Team Second Shift | Center Team | July 2008 | Ice cream vendors failing to obtain vending permits, which is required by City Ordinance. Officers will contact ice cream truck drivers during their normal course of business to ensure that they are complying with vending laws. | Project Complete | |
| SE Team Second Shift, LPD Traffic Unit, Media Relations |
Normal Blvd/ S 27th-S 56th and other high accident locations |
June 2008 | With schools letting out for the summer months, more motorists will be on the road which can result more accidents. Officers obtained a wrecked motor vehicle from Capital Towing to display on the south side of Normal Blvd. at Sumner Street. A sign reading "Arrive Alive" stood next to the vehicle. The LPD Traffic Unit and SE Team officers increased traffic enforcement in the project locations. The public was made aware of the project through a media release which resulted in a front page newspaper article in the Lincoln Journal Star highlighting the objectives of the project. Positive feedback was received from the public. | Project Complete | |
| SE Team First Shift |
MoPac East Trail Head and Dog Run Parking Lots |
May-August, 2008 | As the weather improves, more and more people make use of Lincoln's trail systems. The MoPac East Trail Head and Rickman's Run Dog Run have large remote parking areas. The vehicles parked at these locations are left unattended for long periods of time and become a ripe target for thieves. Officers involved in this project conducted an educational campaign focusing on helping citizens understand how simple prevention techniques can thwart thievery. Ofc. Ward worked with the Parks & Recreation Department to install signs reading, "Lock your vehicles and secure your valuables." Officers were also encouraged to pro-actively patrol the area. | Project Complete | |
| NE Team Third Shift |
Northeast Team | May 2008 | Northeast Team officers received information concerning minors drinking in certain taverns within their team area. All of the NE Third Shift Officers have a goal of four Tavern Checks per month. It is important to hold these businesses accoutable to the liquor license rules and regulations as well as the City and State laws. The checks will be tracked to ensure that all NE taverns and businesses that sell alcohol are visited. | In Progress | |
| Ofc. J. White Ofc. Abele, Lincoln Police Union |
Lincoln Children's Zoo | May 10, 2008 | Each summer, numerous bicycles are stolen after being left unlocked. Most owners do not record the bicycle's serial number, making it nearly impossible to trace a recovered bicycle back to its owner. During Safety Day at the Lincoln Children's Zoo, officers promoted bicycle security and awareness through presentaions and flyers. Twenty five locks purchased from the Bike Rack by Lincoln Police Union were raffled off to children attending the event. Officers coordinated with Three Eagles Radio to promote the raffle along with bicycle and summer safety. | Project Complete | |
| Center Team Second Shift | Center Team |
April-October 2008 | Several areas along the arterial streets have a number of vehicles that produce excessive noise and loud bass from the vehicle stereos. If the noise can be heard from 50 feet away, the driver is in violation of Lincoln Municipal Ordinance. The officers involved in the project enforced a no tolerance policy with these violations. In six months, over 175 citations were issued: 97 loud stereo citations, 39 traffic citations, 12 warnings, 7 warrants, 14 drug-related citations, 14 other misdemeanor citations, 2 DUIs and 2 felonies. | Project Complete | |
| Ofc. Wolbert Ofc. J. White Ofc. Ground Ofc. Beasley |
College View |
April-May 2008 | Officers found a high volume of unregistered and abandoned vehicles in the College View area (Van Dorn-Old Cheney, S 40th St. - S 56th St.) There was a large number of outstanding warrants in the area as well. During the project, all unregistered vehicles found parked on a public street or quasi-public area, were cited for each day they were not in compliance with the City Ordinance. All owners of unregistered vehicles on private property were issued an informative "Abandoned Vehicle Packet" and given 30 days to have their vehicles in compliance. In the 35 days that the project operated, 108 official citations were issued - 85 by Officer Wolbert alone. Twenty-three owners registered their vehicles, four vehicles were towed and five were sold. There were 15 warrant attempts with 8 warrants cleared. | Project Complete | |
| Ofc. Weber Ofc. Quandt Ofc. Schreiner Ofc. R. Fitch Inv. Robinson Mayor's Aide, Jon Carlson |
A St. to C St., S 8th to S 12th | April 2008 | Employees noted that, during the first four months of 2008, there were 41 reports of gang graffiti vandalism in the focus area. Many of the building owners were slow to remove it, creating an environment that fosters more vandalism and an appearance of blight. During the project, all identified address owners painted over the graffiti. Photographs were taken for future reference. Officers patrolled the area nightly and arrested two juveniles for gang related graffiti. | Project Complete | |
| Ofc. Sprague | Southeast Team | March 2008 | Certain investigations produce surveillance photos of a suspect; however, the suspect identity is unknown. This often results in an uncleared case. A bulletin board was purchased and placed in the briefing room at the Lancaster County Jail. Photos are updated periodically with a "possible identity" sheet placed next to each image. Correctional officers spend a significant amount of time with individuals lodged at the jail. Correctional officers have agreed to assist with identifying some of the suspects to achieve a higher clearance rate for LPD cases. | Continuous | |
| SE Team Third Shift |
Southeast Team | January 2008 | Sex offenders are required by state law to register their current address with law enforcement; however, a certain subset of these offenders are highly mobile and fail to comply with this law. Employees will take an active approach in locating all Level 3 Sex Offenders and obtain current address information from these individuals on a quarterly basis. All violations of the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry Act will be vigorously enforced. | In Progress | |
| NE Team Officers | Northeast Team | January 2008 | In an effort to decrease the number of outstanding warrants in the Northeast Team area, officers researched wanted persons by using CrimeView Web mapping. They used last known address and employment information to locate the offenders. During the three week project, 67 warrants were cleared, 1 misdemeanor and 2 narcotics citations issued. | Project Complete | |
| Capt Woolman Sgt Walsh Mayor's Aide, Jon Carlson SW Team Officers |
Southwest Team | January 2008 | The SW Team has a large area of high density residential units. The vast majority of these residential units are not owner occupied and do not have an on-site manager. These addresses drain a lot of resources from the police department and the community. The increased calls for service, ranging from simple disturbances to felony property and persons crimes, cause the tension between police, neighbors and violators to rise. Employees involved in this project will review incidents at addresses where quality of life is being disturbed. A letter will be sent to the owner of the address outlining the problems occurring there, the names of those involved, arrests made and a request that owners take reasonable steps to address the situation. Subsequent violations and a failure to address the situation could result in a citation to the owner for Maintaining a Disorderly House. The goal of this project is to include property owners in helping to reduce the problem addresses. | In Progress | |
