The Nampa Police Department announced Tuesday it has created a new specialty team to go after repeat offenders linked to the majority of the crimes committed in the Nampa area. IT will employ a variety of policing techniques in many areas of crime.
“The Repeat Offender Program -– also known as ROP -- launches July 10 with one primary goal: Identify high-rate offenders who frequently and negatively impact our community,” said Nampa Police Capt. Curt Shankel. ROP is part of the Nampa Police Department’s Patrol Division, under Shankel’s direction. It will be staffed by two patrol officers.
“The ROP concept is based on a contemporary understanding of career criminals,” Chief Joe Huff stated. “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 goal of ROP is to identify the high-rate offenders and use what law enforcement officials call “modern and proactive enforcement strategies to hold them accountable for their criminal behavior.”
“ROP is an enforcement team with a schedule that adjusts to the needs of the Department, and the criminality of the offenders,” Shankel said.
Officers Joel Woodward and Eric Duke were selected for the team, Shankel said, and both men “are extremely excited for this opportunity and to serve the citizens of Nampa in this capacity.”
ROP will coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies, probation and parole officers, as well as local and federal prosecutors.
Additional responsibilities of ROP include investigating violations of gang crimes, narcotics violations, conducting surveillance, collecting intelligence, and fugitive apprehension. Often ROP can be tasked with assisting in the preparation and execution of high-risk search and arrest warrants on
