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NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — A southwest Idaho police department is training some of its officers to focus specifically on repeat offenders.
The Idaho Press-Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2966lal ) that the Nampa Police Department announced Tuesday that it is launching a Repeat Offender Program to help identify the people Police Chief Joe Huff calls "career criminals."
"The ROP concept is based on a contemporary understanding of career criminals," the chief said. "In any community, there's always a small number of high-rate offenders responsible for perpetrating the majority of all criminal acts in a population. This program is a zero-tolerance approach toward career criminals."
The new, two-officer unit will help with high-risk search and arrest warrants on targeted locations and suspects. It will also assist with follow-up investigations.
Nampa officers Joel Woodward and Eric Duke are the two officers assigned to the unit.
"We don't want to just respond to calls and take reports," said Duke. "We know who a lot of the players are because we deal with them so often. We just need to find a way to put them in jail so they're not affecting the community."
"It's important we have a positive impact on the community," Woodward said. "I would say most of our neighborhoods in Nampa, if not all of them, are clean neighborhoods, but they might have a problem house or two that might make them into a high-crime area and look like a dirty neighborhood."
The officers will coordinate with several divisions within the police department and with local, state and federal agencies, prosecutors, and probation and parole officers.
"ROP is an enforcement team with a schedule that adjusts to the needs of the department, and the criminality of the offenders," said Capt. Curt Shankel, who is in charge of the Patrol Division.
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Information from: Idaho Press-Tribune, http://www.idahopress.com
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