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Chief Jerry Summers

LEADERSHIP
Submitted by Chief Jerry Summers

“Our task is not to fix the blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.”
                                                                    -John F. Kennedy

Leadership is one of those rare qualities, difficult to describe, but people know it when they see it. Leadership has been defined as a reciprocal agreement between those who choose to lead and those who decide to follow.

Others have defined leadership as the choices we make to inspire others to take positive, decisive courses of action.

Both of these definitions convey the point leaders must understand the significance of their role in relation to others, while maintaining balance and possessing the ability to clearly articulate their vision to those they serve.

Every decision a leader makes must be tied to and further his/her vision for the future. Our vision here at the McCall Police Department is in “Serving the community as members of the community,” while consistently earning the public’s trust within the resources provided.

With the decline of the national economy, several new challenges have arisen; first, how has the change in the national economy affected our local law enforcement policies? Secondly, how does the McCall community view inappropriate behavior contrasted with the community need to receive the influx of available tourist revenue? Never before has this dichotomy been as apparent as it was this past 4th of July.

As the head of a law enforcement agency, my inclination is to have our officers take a zero tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviors. However, in the past when the McCall Police Department has taken such approach, it has been viewed by the community as being counterproductive to the vitality of a resort town.

I am seeking direction on how the community feels its local police should respond to these or similar issues. Please feel free to contact me at (208) 634-7144 or summersj@mccall.id.us. I look forward to discussing these concerns with each of you.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. - Chief Jerry Summers

Newletter Jan 29, 2009:

There is a certain amount of excitement and anticipation when one begins a new project or endeavor. The excitement comes because of the projects completion and the anticipation as to how the final product will be received by its recipients.

I am pleased with the completion of the McCall Police Department’s first quarterly electronic newsletter and I hope each of you find it both informative and useful. It is anticipated each quarter you will receive the newsletter addressing specific areas of concerns for this community. We will have articles for each discipline of the police department’s pressing needs or issues, such as neighborhood watch tips, McCall Merchant concerns, investigations, code enforcement and parking.

We expect in the near future to further enhance our service to the community by the development and implementation of an interactive McCall Police Department website, Citizen’s Academy’s and electronic alert system to area merchants for insufficient fund checks or closed account checks in an effort to help minimize losses to local business.

At the McCall Police Department we are truly dedicated to “Serving the community as members of the community” while consistently earning the public’s trust. This electronic newsletter is one of the ways we intend to further enhance, communication, cooperation, trust and rapport with each of you. I am hopeful through this newsletter the McCall Police Department can put a face and personality for each of the Officers you see on a daily basis, and this will encourage you to engage your Officers into conversation, ask questions of the officers, and even relay input and suggestions for your police department to improve in its service to you.

Thank you for your trust and support and please feel free to contact either Lt. Pete Rittenger or myself at (208) 634-7144, with any concerns or suggestions you might have for this newsletter or the police department.