The PSA Team
Your Police Service Area (PSA) team, made up of the PSA lieutenant, and his or her sergeants and officers, carry out the most direct role in preventing crime and disorder in your community. The PSA lieutenant is the PSA manager. He or she is accountable for the quality of policing in the PSA 24-hours-a-day. The PSA lieutenant relies on the PSA sergeants to supervise the officers they are working with during their tours of duty.
One of the most important goals of the PSA team is maintaining PSA integrity. This means responding to calls for service and getting to know the people, the resources and the problems in their PSA. The PSA team must be visible and accessible to the people who live and work in their PSA.
The Police Service Area (PSA) team is supported by the Focused Mission Teams, the detectives, the Mobile Crime Unit, Major Narcotics Branch, the Office of Youth Violence, the Special Investigations Division, and other critical Department resources.
The Role of the PSAs Handbook
Every PSA team is responsible for carrying out the Policing for Prevention philosophy and procedures, which are spelled out in The Role of the PSAs handbook. This handbook is a "how to" guide to help the PSA team members implement Policing for Prevention.
How to Work with Your PSA Team
Community participation in each PSA is vital. Residents, business people, and other community groups must get to know their PSA lieutenant and sergeants. Community members must know their officers who are out in the neighborhoods day-to-day.
Community members also must get involved by attending their PSA's monthly community meetings. Your PSA lieutenant is responsible for scheduling monthly community meetings, which are open to all members of the community, and held in a place that's accessible for everyone. Meeting agendas are planned by your PSA lieutenant and community leaders and deal with issues identified by both police and community.
Build a Problem-Solving Partnership with Your PSA Team
The PSA community meeting is the time and place for police and community to share information, and also for police and community to form problem-solving teams. Targeting and solving crime and disorder problems requires an active, ongoing partnership among all the stakeholders.
What can you do to sustain a productive partnership with your PSA team members? You can:
- Regularly attend the monthly PSA meetings.
- Let your PSA officers know what's going on in your neighborhood.
- Work through the Partnerships for Problem Solving process together with your PSA team. Take on assignments you know you can complete, and get them done on time.
- Help your PSA team with community outreach. Bring new people to the meetings. Involve your neighbors, local business people, and anyone else who might have resources that can help your PSA team solve the problems in your community.
