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Riverside County Gang Task Force Department Policy and Procedures Click here to view New Police Department Groundbreaking Ceremony
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I am proud to be your Chief and will work diligently to
maintain your trust.
Four years ago, Chief John Horton asked me to come to Banning to be his Deputy Chief. There were some members of the police department who wanted change and others who did not. There were also many in the community who wanted a more responsive and accountable police department. As a result, we overhauled our citizen’s complaint process and established a method to track complaints in order to make sure they were handled appropriately. We also held our employees accountable by administering discipline when appropriate. During the last four years, we have found that public faith in the department has grown. We have also noticed that the department’s image has continued to improve over time. As I said when I was sworn in as your Police Chief 1 ½ years ago, I want to be “Your Chief.” I am committed to this community and so are the employees of this department. We have done our best to become more involved in this community and be more visible to our citizens. We have also tried to be as transparent to the public as possible. We are currently in the process of building a new police station. I am very proud we are going to be able to house other law enforcement agency representatives in the new station. Since 2005, the Banning Police Department has housed the San Gorgonio Special Operations Gang Task Force. The task force is managed by a supervisor from the California Department of Justice - Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. The team is made up of law enforcement personnel from the California Department of Justice - Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside County Probation Department, Beaumont Police Department, and the Banning Police Department. The new station is going to be a state of the art facility and will house the gang task force. The task force provides an extra law enforcement presence in the City to deal with gang related issues and problems. We have brought some much needed programs to the Banning area. We applied for and received federal grant awards in 2006, 2007, and 2008 to provide one officer to our school district to teach the G.R.E.A.T. curriculum (Gang Resistance Education and Training), to 4th through 7th grade students. The program focuses on preventing youth from becoming involved in gangs and making positive choices. The establishment of this program would not have been possible without the collaborative effort between the Banning Unified School District and the Banning Police Department. I am proud to say we have a strong relationship with the school district and I look forward to continuing the partnership we have formed. My
focus will continue to be on Intervention and Prevention Programs. In January
of 2007, the Banning Police Department re-introduced the Banning Police
Activities League to the City of Banning (BPAL). Each Saturday, there are
between 70-90 youth who play basketball, volleyball, dodge ball, or tennis with
our officers and non-sworn personnel at Nicolet Middle School. The youth also
skateboard and scooter at the local skate park across the street from the
school. This close contact with our youth gives them positive role models to
interact with and keeps them away from dangerous activity while they are
participating in our programs.
The Banning Police Activities League (BPAL) currently sponsors a soccer team, a hip-hop dance group, and a Mexican Ballet de Folklorico group. In the fall of 2008, BPAL started the “Clubb Mudd” ceramics class at Nicolet Middle School. This program gives youth the opportunity to learn pottery skills after school. We have also formed strong bonds with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the San Gorgonio Pass. BPAL and the Boys and Girls Clubs work closely in order to provide our youth activities to take part in throughout the week. So far, we have been able to provide youth activities six days per week. The only day we have not been able to provide activities is Sunday. We have also updated our department’s web site. In order to be more transparent, we attached our policies and procedures to our web site. We have also posted our press releases and monthly reports in order to let the public know what their police department is doing. I appreciate that the City Manager and City Council have placed faith in me to lead this wonderful organization. I will continue to strive to be as accessible and visible in the community as possible. Chief Purvis |
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