By L. Parsons Winslow Police Chief Ken Arend began his first full year as chief on Jan. 1. Arend took over last year following the resignation of Dan Brown and was subsequently appointed to the position permanently after a rigorous hiring process. Arend has been with the department for over 20 years and despite the challenges of the pandemic, is optimistic about his first year as chief. “We have a lot to look forward to this coming year. It’s not going to be without its challenges, but we are ready to evolve in this department. One of the most exciting things that will happened and has already started happening this year, is we will be adopting some new technology. We are working toward accreditation and we are moving in to the 21st century.” According to Arend, training advances are also on tap for the new year. The department has recently purchased a virtual reality training system in conjunction with the next generation of tasers. Arend explained, “Our taser system is going to be obsolete fairly soon. So we had an opportunity to purchase the newer devices and get credit for the ones that we had. We did (use) a bit of our equipment budget on that because we wanted the training aspect with it. With virtual reality training, we are going to increase our de-escalation skills. We can load videos and situation that are controlled by the training officer that will put the officer in the virtual reality circumstances that will need his reaction. The training officers will be able to have the suspect respond to the officer’s commands, and we can focus on de-escalating in mental health situations, or any number of more realistic high pressure scenarios.” This technology offers quite a few advantages for the Winslow Police Department. In the past, the department has utilized simulation training with various programs. Some video simulations have been used as well as training scenarios where specialized handguns and ammunition are required. “Those are expensive,” Arend said, “with the MILO (Multiple Interactive Learning Objective), the video game one, it is housed at the county complex. So getting at least two officers over there and getting a training officer to be available and all of that, it adds up for cost. The cost of simulation ammunition is very high. With this new system, it is all in house. I can take it in to the training room and get the entire department trained in one day. It does have an expense to it out of the gate. We spent about $2,300 on the system. It pays for itself on the first use.” The department will continue to face issues with training despite the implementation of the new system. Arend said, “Because of the pandemic, it’s been hard to know where the city stands financially. So our training budget has been severely reduced. There are requirements that need to be met by our 25 sworn officers. Not to mention that the new laws surrounding Prop 207 will require more training. We have been doing a lot of training in-house so that we don’t have to ship guys out being six officers down. “Right now our morale is high. Of course we have some conflicts, just like in any other family. All in all, we rely on each other and we take care of each other, as cliché as it sounds, like a family. That said, the biggest issue we are facing is increasing our staffing. We are six officers down so we are really focusing and concentrating on getting our staffing up to par. We are currently reviewing background information on one of those positions. We are always one or two below capacity, but six is a big deal. We do have a pretty good retention rate, but people do leave for other reasons, be it retirement or whatever. We are also short one dispatch position.” Arend plans to continue involving the community in policing and involving the police in the community. “The pandemic has taken us out of a lot of situations that we would normally be having contact, like face to face contact with crime victims. You know, having that contact with an officer is part of the recovery cycle of the victim, no matter what the crime. That said, we have had to pull back for safety reasons. What we want to do is figure out ways that we can get back out there in to the community while keeping everybody’s safety and health at the forefront. Not only that of the citizens but of our squad as well. “I approach policing from the perspective of problem oriented policing. The fact that we are right now getting out there and adding 23 stop signs is in itself community involvement. It is so important to us to let our citizens know that we are here for them and that we hear what their needs are. Not only that, but we are ready to solve some of those problems for them, not just talk about it. It’s not the get out and play basketball with the kids type of involvement, which we all love and is important, but it’s more about taking simple issues and addressing them in a real way. We are going to get really good at that this year.” WPD Officer Alejandro Barron added, “My idea of policing, and the way that I do my job, is from a place of compassion. If we start showing people that we are here and we are not scary, and build that trust, we will all benefit from that.” Barron is from Winslow and has chosen to be a police officer in his home town. Arend said, “It’s a statement that our guys are from here and want to work here. If you make a difference for one person, that is a big step. We aim to do that in some way every day.” The department expects to receive its accreditation from the State of Arizona this spring. Arend said, “This is a big accomplishment for our department. Not only is it another recognition to put on our walls, but it is also an opportunity to learn about our department. To gain accreditation, you have to provide proof that you, as a department, are following specific guidelines that are best policies and practices for law enforcement in the State of Arizona in policing. So, you can rewrite your policy book and you can say that you are doing your best, but with this process, you have to provide actual proof of, for example, how you handle use of force. It is a very long process that has been in the works for a long time. We will get it this year.” According to Arend, the goals for WPD in 2021 include, “More involvement, more building trust, more training, receiving our accreditation and more officers. I am excited for what is to come. We came out of 2020 smarter and lighter and will push forward and am really excited about the police department in the next year or so. There is no need to bring the national issues in to Winslow, let’s control our atmosphere as it stands and as it’s our community.”
