New Hopkins Police Strategy: Divide and Conquer

It’s the middle of the afternoon and Sgt. Michael Glassberg is at an apartment complex in north Hopkins. The main office is busy, but the employee recognizes Glassberg and waves him on to the manager’s upstairs office. Glassberg enters the office and spends a few brief moments discussing how things are going.

Glassberg is no stranger to this complex, but this familiarity doesn’t come just from responding to emergency calls. As he does with other businesses in his area—called a sector—Glassberg regularly visits with this manager as part of his strategy for the neighborhood and police to solve problems together.

Police Chief Mike Reynolds brought the concept of sectors to Hopkins when he arrived last year. In August, he divided the city into four quadrants—north, south, east and west—and assigned them out to the patrols. The sergeants are responsible for spotting emerging trends, and everyone works together to identify and address potential problems.

“By doing this, it provides us with added accountability and more-focused areas to identify problems and track trends,” Reynolds said.

(Click the PDF to the right of the article to view a map of the sectors.)

At just four square miles, it only a few minutes to get from one side of Hopkins to the other—too small, at first glance, to divide into quadrants. But the division isn’t about travel time; it allows officers to get to know specific parts of Hopkins in more detail.

“It helps us focus better on the needs of the city,” Glassberg said.

This focus isn't new. The department—and city as a whole—previously devoted significant resources to addressing crime in the Blake Road neighborhoods. The extra attention paid off in lower crime. Sectors, though, allow the department to devote equal attention to other neighborhoods, Glassberg said.

If engaging residents is the heart of sector policing, the weekly “crime assessment and planning” meetings are the brains. All levels of police—along with the city attorney and city staff, when necessary—get together to identify crime trends and come up with creative solutions.

This data-centric approach is a type of law enforcement called “predictive policing.” Tracking trends allows officers to stop problems before they start and be proactive instead of reactive. The approach is new and hasn’t yet been tested through the complete seasonal cycle of crime, but police expect to see the full benefits this spring and summer.

Of course, Hopkins officers aren’t zeroing in on their sectors exclusively. Those on patrol still respond to calls throughout the city.

“It’s not like we’re limited to a sector,” Glassberg said. “We’re a little small for that.”