Lara Fening

· Established and enforced employee performance policies; set standards for conduct and performance through evaluations; rewarded excellence and identified paths for improvement.

· Supervised and managed an administrative police sergeant, parking enforcement officers, animal control personnel, non-emergency police dispatchers and a records specialist.

· Managed personnel scheduling, ensuring optimal staffing coverage for daily operations, also for peak times and special events.

· Designed and managed robust social media communications; increasing followers on social media platforms by nearly 500%.

· Created a high standard for public relations and community involvement for the police division; led and managed all outreach programs.

· Regularly engaged with local individuals and community leaders to discuss crime reduction and problem-solving strategies.

· Established a higher level of communications and interaction with city residents, businesses, and local organizations, which built more positive relationships.

· Created a recruitment team and led them in finding the best applicants through written and online communications, advertisements, police academy visits, career and job fairs, and college visits; worked as a team to create innovative ways to recruit quality candidates.

· Involved with the hiring process of all personnel and participated in formal interviews of all applicants.

· Created and oversaw the police division’s youth career exploration group which is active during each academic year.

· Created the division’s first two annual reports, which are published on the city’s website; also oversaw and assisted in the creation of the division’s first public-facing recruitment video.

· Managed and supervised the college intern program for the police division, managing at least five interns at any given time.

· Acted as the Public Information Officer for the police division and handled all media relations, including all print and television media.