Community Relations Officer

The Community Relations Officer (CRO) position is viewed as an extension of the Community Policing Philosophy within the community at large. The CRO is expected to serve as a resource for all members of the community. The CROwill encourage an atmosphere of “open communication” with all members of the community in an attempt to assist, inform, and reduce inaccuracies that might take place involving a law enforcement issue, and/or social issue related to law enforcement.

The CRO will serve as a patrol officer, problem solver, mentor, community resource officer, community educator, and neighborhood liaison. The CRO is a highly visible and effective point of contact between the police department and the community. The CRO is responsible for establishing a problem-solving process by which the police department responds to community concerns and furthers Bangor Police Department’s community policing efforts department-wide. The CRO will facilitate communication between the community and the police department and help identify and direct non-departmental resources to the community to address non-criminal quality of life issues.

The work involves receiving and documenting information regarding community problems and informing designated supervisors of those problems for possible action. The CRO will also coordinate the response to community problems with other parts of the department, outside agencies, City departments and community members. The CRO will be responsible for maintaining and promoting a continuous liaison with members of the residential and business communities, neighborhood organizations, neighborhood social service providers, and representatives of other government organizations to assist the department in its public safety mission. The CRO will represent the department at various meetings and speak before community groups on the role of the Police Department. The CRO will coordinate educational programs for the members of the community, including citizen police academies.

This position includes the monitoring of crime trends, and developing and participating in crime reduction and problem-solving strategies to address quality of life issues. The CRO will also function as a mentor by providing officer training in community policing methods and reinforcing problem-solving techniques and crime reduction efforts.