NYPD 2023 Plan Outlines Commissioner’s ‘Step Forward’ Campaign

At Wednesday’s annual State of the NYPD breakfast hosted by the New York City Police Foundation, Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell unveiled a detailed 2023 Strategic Plan for the police department to help chart its brightest possible future. 

With the newly installed executive leadership team, Commissioner Sewell has invited all NYPD employees to join her to “Step Forward” and build on the accomplishments from 2022, the NYPD announced in a press release Wednesday. 

Sewell’s plan outlines four goals the NYPD has for the year that the department says all work towards fostering a safer and fair city with neighborhood policing being ingrained into all aspects of NYPD operations. The NYPD is still the largest police force in the country with over 33,000 officers and a total workforce of 56,000 members in a city with 8.8 million people.

Hire a range of talented individuals, support employee well-being, and offer quality training in order to strengthen the NYPD workforce

This includes enhanced recruitment efforts to embrace and recruit members with different cultural backgrounds and perspectives and offers professional development and mentoring opportunities to those in need. 

Recruitment efforts will be reassessed in order to improve how members grow and onboard and increase incentives and rewards for strong talent and performance. Rewards for strong talent will be clearly laid out in the  Employee Service Portal, standardizing the strong talent recognition process across the department. A similar portal will be created for education and training related to mental health wellness for the NYPD.

The NYPD will also engage in the evaluation and updating of equipment training, safety tactics, and de-escalation training and techniques.

Change policing in New York City by means of ongoing improvement and technological advancements

The department hopes to further solidify its Neighborhood Policing philosophy and implementation approach this year as it notes effective neighborhood policing as a top priority. The NYPD also commits to continue to update its Disciplinary Penalty Guidelines which were established in January 2021 and last revised in February 2022 according to their website. 

As some facilities are more than 50 years old, facilities resources and equipment will be reviewed.

Cameras, digital documentation and social media will all be leveraged this year in order to support NYPD work and investigations. There will also be an aggregation of all digital evidence on one common platform. Responders will be using technology to communicate and share real-time in order to enhance awareness of certain situations. 

Task automation will be further looked at in 2023, starting with the automation of data processes used in data-driven tools. The NYPD will start with trying to increase data automation on the User and Entity Behavioral Analytics engine and the City’s Open Data platform.

There will be an effort to review and refine arrest processing systems and reduce the paperwork required in this regard in order to streamline processes.

Uniform and personal appearance standards will also be reassessed in order to increase a look of professionalism, approachability, and department integrity. 

The innovation and Steering committee (ISC) that handled department-wide policing through innovative approaches will be exploring new strategies in 2023.  

Collaborate with local organizations to foster connections with all members of the community 

The NYPD will work to expand opportunities for the public to directly engage with the department to tailor services to community-specific needs. Programs increasing community awareness will continue such as the Citizens Police Academy. 

The Department will try and expand partnerships with other agencies to further specific initiatives such as the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for mental health crises support. 

The NYPD will expand functionality and the mobile capabilities for the public to access  CompStat data to increase transparency when it comes to public-facing crime data. The NYPD hopes to better identify crime trends and evaluate precursors to crime by increasing the use of tools like CompStat and collaborating with communities to do so.

Promote public safety and civility through the development of Neighborhood Policing

The NYPD aims to enhance engagement with citizens impacted by crime through how they interact with those reporting crimes. Delivering new or refreshed programs to support community needs will be tackled through programs such as The Options Program which is partnered with the Police Foundation to provide youth with programs to help with schooling and day-to-day issues. 

New training will aim to enhance oversight over neighborhood policing which needs to be consistent in order to work properly. NYPD engagement on digital channels will also increase, expanding access to crime statistics and NYPD initiatives. Mobile technology advancements in the form of more self-service options to help with things like filing complaints.

Expansion of the NYPD’s social media footprint is also a goal in advancing neighborhood policing, including more proactive communication and sharing of success stories online. 

Increases in transparent communication and information sharing in the new year will hopefully help build trust with communities, says the NYPD’s report. This includes building more awareness around crime prevention programs and other services provided to the public. There will be a revamp of marketing efforts targeting messaging and consolidating public-facing websites so they reach their intended audiences.

Compstat as a tool for transparent consistent performance management data will be expanded in 2023 with the expansion of Compstat Community Forums, events intended to connect the NYPD with community members to discuss crime trends and concerns collaboratively. 

The pilot program, started in 2022, connects the NYPD with members of their communities to review community-specific crime trends and quality of life concerns.