Rockwall PD will not be appearing in any grainy cell phone videos anytime soon. And that's a good thing.

MEDIA RELEASE

Date: March 23, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FROM:

Sgt. Jeff Welch

Public Information Officer

Rockwall Police Department

Rockwall Police Department is Awarded “Recognized” Status

The Rockwall Police Department is the 42^nd police agency, out of over 2,800 agencies in the state (less than 2%) to be awarded “Recognized” status by the Texas Police Chiefs Association. The “Recognition Program” was developed a few years ago by the Texas Police Chiefs Association to assist Texas police agencies in meeting their professional obligations to their citizens. This is a voluntary process where police agencies prove their compliance with law enforcement’s current Best Practices.

Being “Recognized” means that the agency meets or exceeds all of the 164 identified Best Practices, which cover every aspect of law enforcement from pursuits, use of force, protection of citizen rights, evidence and property management, and other patrol and investigative operations. This “Recognized” status ensures that an agency has carefully planned for these critical issues, has developed policies and procedures to address them, as well as put systems in place to identify and correct problems.

Police officers exercise government’s highest powers – the power to stop and question an individual; the power to arrest and seize a person and his property; and the power to use force, including deadly force, in that process. Police agencies direct and control an officer’s activity through supervision, training, and written policies and procedures. Since supervisors cannot always be present, officers often operate alone. This means training and policies, along with the appropriate equipment, are even more critical to ensure proper performance.

The Recognition Program assures city management and the citizens that their Police Department is operating within the best practices of law enforcement. The review process of policies, the on-site visit to inspect equipment and facilities, interviews of staff, and proof of compliance in all areas took over a year. The Rockwall Police Department was approved for “Recognized” status by the committee on March 3, 2011. At last night’s City Council meeting Rockwall Police Chief Mark Moeller was presented the Certificate of Recognition by TPCA committee members.

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