Peoria Police Department is similar to many police agencies of comparable size. Changes which led to the Peoria Police Department success happened after they appointed Arthur Kelly III as the Superintendent of Police on July 11, 1994. Prior to the appointment of Superintendent Kelly, traffic enforcement was not emphasized as an important law enforcement tool. Responsive patrol strategies were the accepted strategy . . . Peoria Police Department was not the only agency to use a responsive strategy.
Some agencies still use it today as their primary enforcement strategy.
Superintendent Kelly operates differently. Proactive traffic enforcement combined with community oriented policing and problem oriented policing has resulted in significant improvements of traffic and crime trends within Peoria. Kelly re-energized the Office of Strategic Planning, hiring Ron Henson to manage the Office and provide statistical analysis of the data. To make the analysis meaningful and timely, the computers and software were upgraded and improved. The strategy, personnel and support changes set the stage for The Peoria Experience.