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Bryan’s Police Department continues to focus on protecting life, property and freedoms by solving crime and forming partnerships with citizens in the community. Accomplishments in FY2021 include:

Community

• The department participated in a number of community events, despite many being canceled or reduced due to COVID-19.
• BPD was selected as a City Award winner by the National Association of Town Watch for its participation in National Night Out 2020. This is the fifth consecutive year the Bryan Police Department has received recognition for this accomplishment.
• The NET (Neighborhood Enforcement Team) continued to communicate with neighborhoods through Nextdoor.
• BPD formed an alliance with “I Heart Bryan,” an organization ran by residents who want to work closely with the community and the police department. The department partnered with I Heart Bryan on the following events:
  • Walk a Mile in My Shoes: A police officer was paired with a community member and they walked for a mile holding a conversation. This was very well received by participants.
  • Christmas meal delivery: More than 75 Christmas meals were delivered by police officers and community volunteers.
  • Kindness is My Jam: A partnership between the BPD, Bryan ISD and I Heart Bryan that featured school children from Bryan ISD performing at the Palace Theater in Downtown Bryan.
• Officers participated in several community events, such as Feast of Caring, Food for Families, National Night Out, and a number of neighborhood meetings where community members could share their concerns with the police department.
• Officers trained a number of local businesses in Active Shooter Training (ALERT) at their request.

Technology

• Began replacing the department’s records management system to make reporting and data retrieval better. This project is expected to be complete by Nov. 1, 2021 and has been done in partnership with the IT department.

Accreditation

• The BPD remained accredited through the national Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). The department is in its fifth four-year accreditation cycle.  During the last accreditation cycle, BPD received the prestigious “With Excellence” distinction. Only 3% of U.S. police agencies are accredited through CALEA.
• The department also continued to be accredited through the Texas Police Chief’s Texas Best Practices. Only 3.7% of Texas agencies are accredited through the Best Practices program.

Officer Health

• Nearly every officer completed the FitLife program, which is utilized to determine officers’ cardio health. Each officer has the opportunity to discuss the results with a physician and take appropriate action if needed. 
• The Peer Support Team continued to provide counseling support on a confidential basis to peer offers. The Peer Support Team is made up of officers and non-sworn staff, and officers who have greater counseling needs are able to anonymously see a professional.  The program is completely voluntary.
• Over the course of the year, the Bryan Police Department implemented comprehensive policies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Training

• The BPD Police Academy graduated its fourth class, consisting of eight recruits in September 2021. Prior classes, beginning in 2018, have graduated a total of more than 30 officers. Having its own academy allows BPD staff to train its own recruits from start to finish, giving the department a stronger, better prepared cadet. 
• The firearms range, built in partnership with BVSMA and College Station in 2016, continued to serve both Bryan and College Station. The police academy is primarily conducted at this facility. 
• The Regional Mobile Field Force was placed on standby several times in FY 2021. It includes officers from all countywide agencies, and all Bryan Police Department officers are trained in its tactics and procedures.
• The training unit conducted nearly 2,000 hours of training on topics such as active shooters, knife defense, ground fighting, firearms, de-escalation and shoot-don’t-shoot scenarios.

Policing Activities

• Officers provided professional and effective services for the citizens of Bryan and responded to nearly 60,000 calls for service this past year. 
• The BPD reduced Part I crime rate by 3% in 2020, with the rate being down 54% since 2009. 
• The department conducted numerous successful investigations during the past years and made arrests ranging from drug possession to violent felonies. They also used criminal intelligence and the Compstat process to proactively reduce crime and successfully arrest burglars, tire & rim thieves, robbers and other felons.
• On April 8^th of 2021, The Bryan Police Department responded to an active shooter at Kent Moore Cabinets in Bryan. Arriving officers secured the scene (the gunman had fled prior to our arrival) and began to triage victims. Although one person was killed and several more were wounded, thanks to the officers’ immediate leap to action, lives were saved. The suspect was captured in rural Grimes County after shooting and critically wounding a DPS trooper. The suspect is facing murder charges for the Kent Moore shooting.
• In an effort to meet community needs, the Bryan Police Department formed a Mental Health Unit in April 2021. Across the country, there has been a significant increase in the awareness of law enforcement interactions with people suffering from mental illness.  These interactions often turn violent based on a lack of trust from the mental health consumer with law enforcement. The Mental Health Unit officers obtained extensive training and are equipped to deescalate a situation to prevent a violent confrontation between a mental health consumer and law enforcement. Officers work collaboratively with the community and local mental health authorities to divert people in mental health crisis from jails to behavioral health treatment facilities.
  
  The unit is comprised of three officers who have received specific training on how to help people who may be experiencing a mental health crisis. Mental Health Unit officers respond to calls for service that directly involve mental health consumers in crisis.  Additionally, these officers build a bond with mental health consumers through occasional home visits and follow up phone contacts. The department hopes that by taking a proactive approach, it can reduce the number of police interactions with mental health consumers who are in crisis. 
• School Resource Officers worked in partnership with Bryan ISD to ensure schools provide a safe environment for students. All of the SROs are fully trained to deal with any active shooter at the schools, in order to protect our students.