The handbook defines "strategic planning" as "the development of a general plan or blueprint for the future. It is a process by which an organization's mission, goals, and objectives are defined, implemented, evaluated, and updated on a continual basis." A strategic plan assists the department in the effective investment of its resources, enabling it to capitalize on opportunities, enhancing its ability to address problems, and helping craft police services to meet public needs. This handbook presents the strategic plan under its three-step structure. The first step, "building a foundation," involves information gathering, organizational values, the chief's vision, the department's mission, departmental initiative and goals, feedback from employees and the community, bureau and division chief expectations, and unit level goals and objectives. Step two, "selecting strategic objectives," encompasses criteria for forming objectives, writing unit level and strategic objectives, and the sample tier II initial report. The third step, "developing and implementing the strategic plan," consists of putting the plan together, communicating and implementing the plan, progress reporting, and sample tier II progress reports. There is also a section on monitoring and evaluation.