[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E246-E247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        OFFICER ROBERT ALLMOND HONORED AT POLICE CEREMONY AWARDS

                                 ______


                            HON. JON D. FOX

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 28, 1996

  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
resident of the 13th Congressional district who recently was named one 
of the best law enforcement officers in the Nation.
  Abington Township, Montgomery county, Police Officer Robert Allmond 
was recognized as one of 10 honorable mentions during the Police 
Officer of the Year ceremony. Officer Allmond received the distinction 
from the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Parade 
magazine after his name was submitted for consideration by Abington 
Police Chief William J. Kelly and Edie Richards, director of community 
development for the Township of Abington.
  Mr. Speaker, there are 604,000 police officers in the United States 
and many past winners have been picked for single outstanding incidents 
involving a shooting incident or dangerous rescues. Officer Allmond's 
award is based on a long-term commitment to community policy work which 
has reduced crime, brought community support for police officers and 
raised neighborhood esteem.
  Officer Allmond began his assignment in 1992 as community policing 
officer in the Crestmont area where crime, violence, and drug abuse 
were the highest in the township, according to Chief Kelly. Eighteen 
months later, a survey showed that overall fear of crime in the 
neighborhood had dropped by 12.75 percent, community support for police 
had increased 63 percent and neighborhood esteem was up by 4 percent.
  Officer Allmond initiated several programs in Crestmont including 
organizing trips for youngsters to the New Jersey State Aquarium at 
Camden, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Philadelphia Zoo and 
the Academy of Natural Sciences. He has also taken children to 
Philadelphia Eagles, Phillies and 76ers games and arranged for weeks of 
free bowling so youngsters could participate in a league-like 
environment.
  Almost as important as the outings was the fact that community 
leaders like Chief Kelly, the township commissioners, police officers, 
dispatchers, township staff and parents went along as chaperones and 
got involved with the children.
  Officer Allmond organized a program to bring doctors and nurses into 
the neighborhood using a community policing vehicle as a mini-medical 
office to do free blood-pressure screenings and other tests for low and 
moderate income residents. The Lions Club used the vehicle to provide 
free vision screenings.
  Allmond helped coordinate a Citizen's Police Academy to create better 
understanding between police and residents. Citizens were invited to 
participate in a 30-hour course about police duties and many Abington 
police officers volunteered to teach the courses and became involved in 
the interaction between police and citizens.
  Officer Allmond also worked with Abington Memorial Hospital, a leader 
in community health services, to take information about the outstanding 
Children's Health Insurance Program [CHIPS] to the community, again 
using the specially equipped van. CHIPS officers subsidized health 
insurance for children based on family income.
  Officer Allmond's work with the Crestmont Community Policing Program 
was recognized earlier this year when the program was one of six 
national winners of the Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement 
Award and was honored by the National Community Development Association 
``for exemplary and creative uses of community development block grant 
funds which best address the needs of families, homes and neighborhoods 
of low and moderate income.''
  Officer Allmond's boss, Chief Kelly, has said of this outstanding 
citizen: ``Bob's initiative, energy, and willingness to try new 
approaches are greatly responsible for his success, but at the same 
time, I know that he would be the first to point out that area 
residents and local beat officers are the keys to the long-term success 
of these programs in this neighborhood.''
  Mr. Speaker, that is high praise for the 34-year-old officer who 
joined this outstanding police department in 1986. Office Allmond has 

[[Page E247]]
shown that what lies at the heart of a troubled neighborhood is complex 
and unique to that community and cannot be fixed, necessarily, with a 
brick and mortar approach to community development, or with a cops and 
robbers approach to law enforcement.
  Prior to the implementation of this outstanding community policing 
program under Officer Allmond, we had been treating the symptoms 
without diagnosing the illness. It took Officer Robert Allmond and a 
very courageous community to show us what and where the problems really 
were.
  This is the heart of community policing and I urge all my fellow 
Members to investigate this program and help create similar models in 
their own districts.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have Office Robert Allmond as a member of 
one of Montgomery county's finest police departments. His service to 
the people of Abington Township have made that community one of the 
finest places on earth to live, work and raise our families.

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