Community Service Officers...

The Community Services Division is a newly formed division which combines the principles of community oriented policing with those of intelligence led policing. The personnel of the division incorporate traditional policing methods with a broader problem solving approach that involves police, residents, businesses and other city and county services working together to improve the quality of life in each neighborhood. Each community service officer, or CSO, is assigned to a specific area of West Valley City. It is the officer’s responsibility to work with the residents and businesses in that area to identify problems and act as a liaison between the involved parties and the resources that they need to resolve their problems.

The division is currently comprised of six CSO’s, a DARE officer, a sergeant, an intelligence analyst and a captain. The intelligence analyst gathers information on the people involved in crimes. They look for similarities in modus operandi, suspect description and suspect vehicle description. They then use this information to develop suspects in crimes. They can also use the databases at their disposal to help locate these suspects and their associates. The intelligence analyst is another powerful resource to help the CSO’s to be more successful in resolving crime problems and disrupting criminal activity.

In addition to the intelligence analyst, the CSO’s also have access to the services of a crime analyst. The crime analyst ’s job is to gather statistics on crimes that are occurring and to inform the officers of any similarities or patterns in those crimes. The crime analyst can help pinpoint the day of the week, time of day and geographical area in which the crimes are occurring. This information helps the CSO’s to direct their efforts in solving these crimes making it more likely they will catch the perpetrators. It also helps them to educate the citizens in those areas as to what they can do to reduce their chances of becoming a victim of crime.

You, our community members, are an important piece to making this type of policing work. We need you to be active in your neighborhoods, by looking for suspicious people and activities and then reporting them through a patrol officer or to your neighborhood Community Service Officer ( Officer J. Buchanan...also notify your block captian or myself). The CSO’s will take this information use it to work with you and your neighbors to form a plan of action to resolve these issues and coordinate the efforts of the other divisions within the police department to implement these plans.
*Taken from the West Valley City Website

As the Summit Neighborhood Watch Chair, I am so excited to work with this new program! Please, keep your eyes out for any suspicious behavior. It only takes a second to look out your window & look around your home & your neighbor's.