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Council adds 'outreach' to police-presence goal as part of strategic plan
Summary
Consultant Alan Sims and councilors agreed to strengthen Goal 1 of Northlake's draft strategic plan by adding outreach alongside police presence; members emphasized measuring visibility, response expectations and broader townwide community engagement to build trust.
Alan Sims, the facilitator of the town's strategic planning session, presented Goal 1 — "police presence, collaborate with fire and medical service, engage with community to ensure trust" — and asked the council whether the wording captured what they wanted. A council member urged explicitly adding outreach, saying police presence should also mean that "they can get to me when I call them and that they say that" (Committee member, SEG 181). The council agreed to revise language to read something like "presence and outreach."
Councilors discussed how to measure the goal. Sims pressed them to clarify "the why" so staff know what to report back; one councilor said visibility builds trust and "promotes safety," while others distinguished police operational presence from a townwide community-engagement metric. Sims told the group that some responsibilities will fall to staff and some will require council involvement in community outreach and ownership of the goal (Alan Sims, SEG 277–287). The changes will be reflected in staff action items and future progress reports.
