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Youngstown police seek rapport with the public
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Lt. William Ross of the Youngstown Police Department shows off one of the door-hangers that were placed on doors on South Side houses in neighborhoods along Market Street on Thursday evening. The back of the door hangers list various notices, such as “animal complaint” or “loud music complaint,” and the police officers will mark which notices apply to a specific residence.
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
If you live or work in the city, the Youngstown Police Department is trying to foster a deeper rapport with you.
As part of that effort, five members of the Community Oriented Police Unit spent several hours Thursday evening leaving bright-yellow door hangers with Market Street businesses between Midlothian Boulevard and Indianola Avenue on the city’s South Side.
The idea is to make police more visible and improve relations between the department and businesses, in part by reminding them to call authorities to discuss safety and security concerns, as well as legal questions and other needs, noted Lt. William Ross, who headed the effort.
Another advantage to such an approach is that citizens are more forthcoming about their concerns, allowing police, for example, to develop greater intelligence on drug activity, Ross explained.
“An officer walking down the street is more approachable than in a patrol car,” he said, adding that the department plans to conduct increased foot patrols.
The hangers contain the officer’s name and date. Businesses are encouraged to use the back to check off problems such as loud music and abandoned vehicles and report them to authorities, he explained.
One of the first businesses police visited Thursday was Today’s Nails, a nail salon at 3702 Market St. Along their way up and down Market, the five officers in the detail also checked locks on closed storefronts.
In addition to leaving the hangers, the officers were warning some residents about someone who’s fraudulently claiming to represent an alarm company in an attempt to get residents to switch to that company, Ross said, adding that the person is not registered as a city vendor.
The effort is to continue throughout the summer in different parts of the city, he said.
The periodic checks also should deter burglaries and other property- crimes while allowing officers to interact with the public beyond service calls, patrolman Jim Welch said.