The Pleasanton Police Department is firmly committed to the ideals of community-oriented policing.  It is not a goal, but rather a philosophy that is woven into how we do business and work within our community.

Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) is a twist within the context of traditional policing.  The philosophy centers around building police-community partnerships to work collectively in proactive problem solving to address the causes of crime and other community issues.  Problem solving is a central theme of COPPS.

Some crimes and ongoing neighborhood problems result from factors and variables that may be unique to a specific neighborhood.  Often times these variables are known better by the people who live within that specific neighborhood than by the Police.  By working together, we share ownership in the decision-making process allowing us to prioritize problems in our neighborhoods.  It also allows us to identify and address the root causes of these problems.  A coordinated effort between the Police and the Community results in a more effective approach to addressing problems, resulting in long-term solutions rather than simply short-term fixes.

To be more reactive to neighborhood problems and needs the Police Department has reorganized our patrol responsibilities into three Districts.  Each District has a designated watch commander, set of patrol supervisors and officers who are assigned to community concerns in that District.  As problems arise that need to be addressed from a COPPS approach, the team working that District will assign the appropriate officer(s) to work as liaisons in coordinating problem-solving activities.  Many times officers will be assigned not only on the District they are assigned to, but the time of the day they work so as best to address the given problem.

Being active in the Community and working with the Police Department is another area where citizens can get involved, stay informed and work together to solve problems.  To accomplish this the Police Department has a variety of programs where citizens can become educated, get involved, give something back and make a difference in our Community.  The Citizens Academy and Teen Academy, along with the C.O.P.P.S. Television program, are great ways to learn about why we do what we do.  For those who would like to give something back and get involved we offer Police Explorer, Police Chaplain, Reserve Officer and Volunteer programs.  To help make a difference in our community we also offer various Traffic programs and have a Crime Prevention Unit that is available to help in education, security inspections and in forming Neighborhood Watch Groups.