A new community-based police initiative has San Antonio locals getting involved to create safer neighborhoods.
The SAPD program called “Citizens on Patrol” allows locals to be the first line of defense against crime in their neighborhoods.
Community leader Tinker Mass reassures people that this program won’t be taking the place of police officers. “ are still the professionals. We aren’t going to get involved in doing their job but we can certainly assist them in being better witnesses.”
And that’s exactly what this program aims to do.
A couple of weeks ago, Police Chief William McManus, along with several patrol officers, visited locals in Prospect Hill to discuss problem areas on the west side and ways to address them.
Since then, 14 different neighborhood leaders have reached out to Mass wanting to get involved.
The first step in getting involved, Mass said, is to get out and get the support of your neighbors. She then explained how she went house to house and business to business in order to get people involved in her community.
SAPD spokesman Douglas Greene is happy to see the initiative taking off.”We’re very excited about and we want to encourage more people to get involved,” he says.”If we have more eyes and ears out there on the streets it helps us tremendously the neighborhood safer.”
If you’re interested in joining the “Citizens on Patrol” program, you can start by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post and completing a registration form. Once you’ve submitted the form, you must attend two 4-hour courses at your neighborhood substation. Toward the end of your training you may even get the chance to go on an 8-hour ride along with police.
“Through this training we talk to individuals about how to recognize suspicious activity and how to report that activity,” Greene said.
The idea is that the more people are involved, the safer neighborhoods around San Antonio will be.
For more information on the “Citizen on Patrol” program or to get involved click here.
(Source: FOX29)