Mission & Vision Statements and our Values

Mission Statement

The members of the Union City Police Department commit to the community that we are dedicated to:

• Reducing crime and the fear of crime.
• Protecting life and property.
• Providing the highest quality of police services.
• Resolving problems.
• Enhancing safety and improving the quality of life.

To do this, we pledge to develop and maintain active partnerships with the community.

Vision Statement

Looking over our City's many successes over the past few years, we can truly see how far we have come and how bright our future looks. Together, working as a team with other City employees, we have:

• Developed a new Economic Development Department that actively recruits, courts, and entices new businesses into our City to assure for continued economic well being.
• Revitalized the blighted areas of the Decoto District and created an attractive residential community complete with a new head start program school for our youngest citizens.
• Developed and implemented a highly successful Community Policing Program throughout the City that is truly changing the way we do our job as police officers. In so doing we have formalized day-to-day working relationships with over thirteen community based organizations and have begun purchasing our two Community Resource Center sites within the Decoto and Contempo Districts.
• Improved the promotional opportunities and career advancement potential for our department members through the creation of new positions and expanded programs.
• Increased department resources by adding additional personnel and new equipment to increase our ability to deliver police services.

These items represent only a hand full of many achievements that we have attained through our hard work and dedication. Today as we celebrate our successes, we need to realize that sustaining that success will require much additional effort, hard work, and commitment. We must continue to concentrate our efforts in the following areas to sustain prosperity:

Community Development - Each member of the department must seek out opportunities to promote this City to the business community and persons looking for a good place to live. We must work with our Economic Development Department to refine our image as a City who is "business friendly" and whose employees go the "extra mile" for its citizens and businesses.

Technology - We must work hard to demonstrate to our community leaders how the continued and sustained utilization of current technology can be used to fight crime more effectively and create a safer community environment. We must continue to work with our neighboring cities in the application of new technology to policing problems and above all we must share our technology with other City departments and community based organizations so that we can help make their jobs easier.

Community Policing - We must continue our efforts towards attaining our community policing goals and in meeting our five year implementation time line. Our two resource centers must be developed and staffed with as many services as we are able to provide. We must take the leadership role in collaboration and cooperation within these centers. The rewards will not come quickly, but they will come, and the result will be an improvement in the quality of life for all citizens and an ongoing improvement in community relations for this police department.

Career Development/Training - As an organization we will continue to develop and train our employees so that they can attain success in their careers. To do this, we must assure for the orderly planned transition of the police administration with the realization that all future leaders of the Union City Police Department will come from within its ranks. We must also pay special attention to our non-sworn employees who traditionally do not receive scheduled training and ensure that a career path exists for them too. We should make every effort to utilize and expand upon career success within this organization. And, lastly, we should make every effort to recruit and develop our future employees from within the citizens of Union City whenever possible.

Collaboration and Cooperation - As our mission statement pledges, we must continue to develop partnerships and problem solving methods that utilize collaboration and cooperation with our citizens, fellow law enforcement agencies and other service providers. We are already recognized as leaders in this area and we should continue to open up our organization so that others feel comfortable in working with us. We must actively seek out new partnerships and non-traditional alliances to solve community and regional problems.

Community Relations - Above all else we must always remember who we work for and the reasons that our community has empowered us as law enforcement professionals. "To protect and to serve", must always be a fundamental tenet of every department employee's actions from the time they enter the department until the time they depart. We must work hard to de-mystify the police officer's job to our public and seek opportunities to fold our citizens into the job of fighting crime. We should always strive to work together and allow our citizens the opportunity to evaluate our performance and make constructive recommendations for improvement. The result of this effort will undoubtedly improved the community's trust and confidence in our ability to do the job. As your Chief, I believe that these are the critical areas that we must work on as we move into the future of this organization. It has taken a great deal of time and patience from all of the administrative staff to clearly see where we have been as a department and where we are going in the future. We, as an organization, possess all of "the right stuff" to succeed in the future and manage change. The outlook is very bright and I look forward to working with you in achieving your goals as well as those of the Union City Police Department.

Our Values

HUMAN LIFE - We recognize the importance of individual rights and the principle that each person must be treated fairly.

EMPLOYEE WELFARE - As employees, we are an important part of the City of Union City and a resource to both protect and serve the community. Our contributions to the citizens are appreciated, recognized and supported.

COMMUNITY SERVICE - We value the diversity within the police department and our demonstrated ability to work effectively as a team, addressing the problems and concerns of our community/

TEAMWORK - We are responsive to the public, identifying needs and devising strategies in partnership with the community, other branches of city government and other service providers.

PROFESSIONALISM - As members of this organization, we devote our full energy and talents to the department's mission. Employees at all levels and ranks are held accountable for their performance.

INTERGRITY - As individuals and as an organization, we place high value on honesty, and adhere to the standards embodied by the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.

PRIDE - As individuals and as an organization, we will always maintain our self-respect and find satisfaction in our achievements.