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Eagle County sheriff candidates talk about ‘community policing’

Staff report
Vail Daily

EAGLE COUNTY — Two candidates are running for Eagle County Sheriff this election: Daric Harvey and James van Beek.

Here, the candidates weigh in on the term “community policing” as campaign season enters the final stretch.



Daric Harvey, Democrat

I believe in and advocate for the strategy of community-oriented policing. But the difference between me and my opponent is that I have continued to follow the evolutions of modern police practice, which add to this basic concept. An example of one of these evolutions is intelligence-led policing, or data-driven policing, that strategically analyzes information about criminal behavior and its offenders to base the order of an agency’s operational priorities. With the tragedy of 9/11 and its lessons, and the subsequent advent of social media, the way law enforcement looks at gathering and sharing information has changed. Relationships with the community are the foundation of every modern agency but are not the only component required to be effective in protecting our community. During my 18-year career, I have learned, adapted and led using these and other principles to improve the way my organizations identify, solve and prevent crimes.




James van Beek, Republican

In its most simplistic form, community policing is a philosophical approach that promotes organizational strategies utilizing and building community partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively improve or facilitate better conditions in the communities that give rise to public-safety issues addressing social disorder, crime and fear of crime.

This approach was first noted in the early 1800s and set down by Sir Robert Peel (who is considered the father of modern police practices) in several principals. While all his nine principals still apply, his second and third are what greatly influence community policing approaches today.

In a society such as ours, the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police existence, actions, behavior and the ability of the police to secure and maintain public respect.

The police must secure the willing cooperation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain public respect.

Policing in the U.S. had gone away from this style and now leans toward a primarily enforcement role of policing disconnected from their communities and creating a militaristic/police-type state. The civil-rights movements of the ’60s and into the ’70s inclusive of riots and how the police attempted to respond and failed caused the police to start to bring about change again during the next several decades based upon the above principals.

These changes have resulted in several approaches to our modern police forces using several different methods in trying to facilitate maintaining order and promoting positives in each of our communities.