Department Information
Vision
The vision of the River Forest Police Department is for us to
reach our full potential, both as a police department, and as
individuals.
Mission
The Mission of the River Forest Police Department is to provide
professional, effective, efficient and safe police service in
partnership with the community.
Values
- We believe in the dignity and worth of all people, and in the
value of life above all else.
- We believe we must maintain the highest standards of integrity
and honesty in all our actions.
- We believe in the principles embodied in our Constitution and
recognize the authority of federal, state and local laws.
- We believe that a disciplined police department, professional
in appearance and conduct, is necessary to maintain public confidence.
- We believe we must vigorously seek those who commit serious
crimes.
- We believe our authority is to be exercised responsibly.
- We believe we are accountable to the residents of our community
and to each other.
- We believe in seeking input from our employees in matters which
impact job satisfaction.
- We believe our employees are the department’s most
valuable asset.
- We believe we must hold ourselves to a higher standard of social
and professional conduct.
- We believe the police and the community share responsibility
for maintaining law and order.
- We believe we must treat all persons with courtesy and respect.
Management Philosophy
The management philosophy
of the River Forest Police Department is based on the concepts
of value-based leadership, participatory
management, empowerment, customer service, and respect.
Values-Based Leadership
Instead of managing through a set of rules and regulations,
the department will be led through values. These values must
be clear and the members of the organization must understand
them and agree with them. Behavior by members of the agency must
be linked to these values. These department values serve as an
organizational pledge to the community.
Participatory Management
In order to tap into the knowledge and
experience of all Department members, it is not only desirable
but also necessary to require
all to take an active and participatory part in the management
of the Department. The Department’s leadership must not
only have good ideas, but also must be able to recognize good
ideas, and the best ideas usually come from the people actually
doing the job. The Department’s leadership has to be
able to consider alternative courses of action and decide
on which
to take. Once a decision is made, it will not be changed
capriciously.
Empowerment
This Department has adopted community policing as
its strategy. One element of community policing is empowering
police officers
by decentralizing authority, and pushing operational and
tactical decision-making down to the lower levels of the
organization.
The intent is to give officers greater freedom to make decisions
about what is to be done, and how they will do it, in order
to better contribute to achieving the mission of the police
department.
Police officers will be involved in diagnosing and responding
to neighborhood and community problems. The discretion of
police officers which has always existed and used is to
be recognized
and developed. This requires a “mistake-friendly” atmosphere,
since giving people opportunities to succeed also gives them
opportunities to fail. However, so long as we learn from
our mistakes, and so long as our actions are consistent with
department
values, whatever what was attempted will not have been a
wasted effort.
Customer Service
We are in business to serve the public, who
are our customers. It is not only the right thing to do – we exist because
of the community we police, not the other way around – but
also because it can make our jobs easier. This does not mean
the customer is always right. It does mean that we always do
what we can to be of service. This is exemplified by adopting “A
Tradition of Service to the Community” as our Department’s
motto.
Respect
The Police Department’s most valuable resource
is the men and women who work here. We must have respect
for each other.
The nature of police work frequently requires the support
and assistance of others. Our safety depends on it. Department members
must seek affirmative ways to cooperate and work with other
members, public officials and employees of other departments in order
to deliver effective, efficient and safe services. Department
members are to use common courtesy when dealing with each
other. Members are to display respect and courtesy to superiors because
it provides a sense of order, and serves as a tangible indication
that members are willing to subordinate personal priorities,
goals and objectives to the needs and mission of this Department.
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