Public safety is one of the major issues across the globe. From cybercrime to physical assault, almost everyone is vulnerable to these crimes. Hence, to safeguard people’s rights and physical well-being, the US government has taken numerous steps to make stringent policies and laws.
To curb the surge in the crime rate, the US Government has taken many steps, and one such step is the establishment of the office of public safety.
What is OPS?
The public safety office is one of the central departments set by the Government in the US, which undertakes an array of activities and ensures the security of the general public and public property.
The OPS runs a certified training program for the police officers in New York to ensure that the general public is getting the best services and they can freely approach the police in case of any criminal act.
They also train the security guards and take the complete accountability of police training courses to provide better professionalism and productivity parameters.
Mission of OPS
- The primary purpose of the OPS is to reduce crime and make every effort to increase public safety.
- It keeps a rigorous check on the proper law enforcement and timely analyzes the effectiveness of the general policies.
- It provides the appropriate training to police personnel to act professionally and help people build confidence.
What are the responsibilities of OPS?
The OPS handles the various activities like:
General Policing and Training
The OPS conducts the training programs in the following areas:
- Defensive tactics
- Use of force
- Handling person with disabilities
- Active shooter
- Officer wellness
- Drug awareness and investigation
- Crash management
The training modules are also available in informational videos and online training.
Accreditation Program
Once the laws and policies are implemented, it needs a continuous check to know their efficacy. The Accreditation program helps better the guidelines by evaluating and providing them constructive feedback.
The accreditation program covers the following topics:
- Patrol
- Roadblocks
- Unusual occurrences
- High-speed pursuits
Officers Registry
According to section 845 of the Executive Law, each employer has to register the new employee with the Office of Public Safety with full details.
Security Guard Training
The OPS has strict guidelines and training processes for the security guards. Even the guards have to fulfill all the criteria before being given full-time responsibilities.
Some of the essential criteria are:
- The registered security guards need to complete the 8-hour pre-assignment training course.
- Within the 90days of employment, they also need to complete the 16-hour on-the-job training course.
- In case of the candidature of the armed guard, they need to attend the 47-hour firearm training course.
- They should also participate in the 8-hour annual in-service training course annually.
Major Initiatives by OPS
Gun Involved Violence Elimination Imitative
The primary purpose of the GIVE is to reduce shooting and homicide cases across the country. It holds 80 percent of the total crime. To fight such a problem, the public safety office has taken the following initiatives:
- Hot-Spot Policing
- Street Outreach
- Focused Deterrence
- Crime Preventive measures.
GIVE work on the four elements:
- People strategy – The focus is to identify and stop people who are highly involved in shooting and homicides cases.
- Place strategy – Some locations are put under thorough surveillance that has a high rate of crimes.
- Alignment strategy – The OPS makes the policies for the officers on how to communicate at the crime scene effectively and how to use the resources.
- Engagement – It defines how to coordinate with the community and the stakeholder by keeping in mind transparency.
SNUG Street Outreach Program
The SNUG Street Outreach program helps identify the source of the violence; it helps detect and stop high-risk crimes and offers a range of programs to prevent retaliation.
For example, it runs programs like job readiness training and drug and alcohol counseling and provides access to resources and services.
The SNUG program also provides mental health counseling to those affected by the crime, and they visit the victim and families if they have faced any violence.
Conclusion
The US public safety department takes every step possible to stop the violence and crimes as it impacts the physical well-being as well as mental well-being of people.
The ultimate aim of OPS is to craft the best enforcement law and to provide state-of-the-art equipment to reduce criminal cases.