“Building trust takes time, but that’s what we’re here to do.” Sgt. Matt Elzinga was speaking of the Community Policing Unit of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS), which he supervises.
Community Policing is a concept intended to reduce crime and the fear of crime. “Our unit was created to improve the quality of life for citizens in Kalamazoo.” Elzinga states. “Once we get to know the people in the neighborhoods and they get to know us, we can work together to make the whole community better and safer.”
In November, Sgt. Elzinga and four other officers spoke to KPEP residents about their experiences in working with KPEP volunteers on the neighborhood blight cleanup projects. The discussion was intended to be casual and personal, allowing officers and KPEP residents the chance to share thoughts, ideas, feelings and even to air prejudices.
Sgt. Elzinga noted that the blight cleanup projects provide an opportunity for officers to interact with the KPEP volunteers and “lead by example.” He explains, “It’s not just about picking up trash. We want them to know that the officers really do care. We got into police work because we want to help people.”
Blight reduction is a key part of reducing crime, as removing graffiti, cleaning up trash, towing away abandoned cars and repairing broken streetlights in the neighborhoods instills pride among neighbors and makes them less likely to tolerate criminal activity in their midst. Sgt. Elzinga related that people in the neighborhoods where cleanup projects were taking place joined in the cleanup effort themselves.
In other Community Policing efforts, KDPS co-sponsored a Halloween block party last fall in the Edison neighborhood on a street where there is commonly a great deal of gang activity. A former gang leader-turned-pastor encouraged people to attend the party which got a great turnout and was considered very successful. “Walls came down. People were comfortable talking to us by the end,” said Community Policing Officer Jeremy Shaffer. “They saw us just as people, outside of the role we often play in the neighborhood of checking IDs and making arrests.”
Officer Shaffer remarks that the whole idea behind Community Policing is to “do something that will keep people out of jail, rather than simply looking for lawbreakers and making arrests. We’re learning that we have a lot to learn, but I think that we can have a real impact.”