Administration Division

 

     In 2008, the Support Services Section faced unique challenges.  With the State of Nevada changing the retirement health benefits, three of the four Support Services Officers announced their retirements.  With a declining economy, all three of those positions were placed on a City Manager Hold position and would not be filled.  Drastic reductions in services were made.  For the first time in approximately 20 years, the DARE program was not taught to a sixth grade class.  Other school and community based programs were cut.  A focus was made to concentrate on several key programs.  Those programs were the Volunteers Assisting Sparks Community (VASC), the ALERT programs, Neighborhood Watch Programs, the Truckee Meadows Citizens Academy and the Kids to Seniors Korner Program.  The Support Services Section still maintained its function as the coordinator for department training and providing for the property and evidence functions of the Police Department.

     The VASC program continued to excel in 2008.  With over 100 members, the VASC program volunteered over 7,300 hours to the Police Department and the community, a dollar savings of over $131,000.  Volunteers served in all four Division of the Police Department from working in the Records Division imaging police reports, working in the Detective Division reviewing cases for crime trends, completing house checks on citizens who were on vacation to handling out parking citations for those who illegally park in handicapped parking spots.  This unique partnership allows citizens to give back to their community while greatly assisting the Police Department fulfill our mission statement and meet our goals and objectives.

     In 2008, Support Services Officer Alex Mendoza developed and innovative program called Area Law Enforcement and Retailers Team (ALERT).  As the Crime Prevention Officer, Alex was working with local retailers in indentifying crime trends and proposing crime prevention techniques for the retailers.  Alex quickly realized that many of the local retailers were experiencing the same problems.  Officer Mendoza began working with a core group of retailers such as Scolaris, Target and Scheels and developed the ALERT program.  This unique program brings together participating retailers to network on a monthly basis and share current crime trends in an effort to identify and locate those committing the crimes.  To date, there are over 250 retailers participating in the ALERT program.  This is just another example of the innovative programs that have been developed.

     The Truckee Meadows Citizens Police Academy is another way that citizens from Sparks can get involved in the Police Department.  This program is a cooperative partnership with the Reno Police Department and the Washoe County Sheriff's Office and takes place twice a year at the Regional Public Safety Training Center.  This program takes citizens through a 10 week journey of what it is like to be a police officer.  With hands on demonstrations from our K-9 program to a day at the range, this interactive program teaches citizens the basic foundations of law enforcement.  With the knowledge gained from the Academy, citizens can then go into the community and assist in the promoting of the Police Department and its mission.  All members of the Citizen academies are offered to be involved in each agencies volunteer program.