Columbus Police Department is entering into a new collaboration with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department and the county prosecutor’s office to expand the city’s successful Intelligence Led Policing Unit.
Established by Columbus police in 2017, the unit has three officers, but will now expand to four with the addition of a sheriff’s deputy to the team in August, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
In addition, the prosecutor’s office is assigning Deputy Prosecutor Lindsey Holden Kay to directly oversee Intelligence Led Policing cases involving property crimes, which officers have determined are often committed by repeat offenders.
The memorandum of understanding signed by the three agencies is the second collaboration for police and prosecutors. CPD, the sheriff’s department and the prosecutor’s office are already working together as JNET, or Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team.
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That four-year-old task force combines narcotics officers from the Columbus Police Department and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office focusing on investigation and prosecution of narcotics cases.
“Intelligence Led Policing is based on the concept that a small number of people are committing a disproportionate number of crimes in Columbus and Bartholomew County,” said Columbus Police Chief Jon Rohde. “After shaping this cutting-edge method of policing to match the needs and resources of our community, the data shows that what we are doing is working. This partnership will help coordinate our efforts county-wide, and provide a direct link to the prosecutor’s office so that we can stop those who have made a living by stealing from others.”
The Intelligence Led Policing unit evolved out of the former COPS (Community Oriented Policing) unit at the city police department.
Intelligence Led Policing attempts to identify potential victims and likely repeat offenders — and then works with a variety of partners to provide offenders an opportunity to change their behavior before being arrested for a more severe crime.
In addition to the current three officers assigned to the unit, the CPD intelligence-led policing unit also employs a civilian criminal intelligence analyst. The team collects and stores all information, analyzes the data, and produces actionable direction for law enforcement activities, according to the department.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, intelligence-led policing is “a collaborative law enforcement approach combining problem-solving policing, information sharing, and police accountability, with enhanced intelligence operations.”
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said the new agreement reflects that much of what the city does involves working with others.
“Whether it’s working with other entities to find a solution to increased railroad traffic or combining efforts to address the opioid epidemic, working well with others to find solutions to challenging problems is something my administration has consistently done. In this case, the Intelligence Led Policing model has had a positive result in reducing thefts in our community. It just makes sense to collectively work with the prosecutor’s office and sheriff’s office to make an even greater impact on our crime reduction efforts.”
Harris said police know that individuals who are committing crimes in Columbus and also committing them in Bartholomew County.
“Property crime doesn’t stop at the city limits,” said Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers. “Frequently you will find the same suspects in the city and the county. This is a good plan of attack on property crime in Bartholomew County. The success of our county is dependent on agencies working together. When agencies work together, it allows all of us to better serve Bartholomew County residents and businesses.”
Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash said he has been very impressed with the success of the Intelligence Led Policing Unit so far and that he looks forward to participating with the sheriff’s department to expand that success to the rest of Bartholomew County.
City and county residents are urged to contact law enforcement dispatch at 812-379-1689 when they observe suspicious actions or activity. Tips and information may be provided to law enforcement anonymously.
