For weeks we've been reporting on the re-structuring of the biggest police formation in the country - that's the eastern division. Unless you've been under a rock somewhere you'll know that it's been split into three: Easter-South, Eastern North and Eastern Rural. The top brass says it's made for better policing - and the media can tell you it's made for a lot more news. We're not the kind to look gift horses in the mouth, but the new commanders have sure been busy with press appearances. Tonight we have three - one from each formation: south, north and rural. We start in the southside - where community policing is the operative terms. The commanders have been busy making visits in neighborhoods that have gang problems. The area called "back a complex" is one of those - where the PIV gang is dominant. Today we found the second in command for the Southside in the area of Lacroix Boulevard and he told us that making community interventions saves them from having to respond to crime:.
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"We intend to sustain this as long we need to and that will definitely continue."
Jules Vasquez
"Now these specific officers you have out here are they the community officers that ae tasked to work this area?"
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"No. Every police officer, we try to plant in the mind of the police, that every policer is a community police officer. So we just take police officers and bring them out and take them around and show them what we expect from them and how they are to treat the people and meet the public."
Jules Vasquez
"Is that what would be called a "paradigm shift" in so far as usually when you enter the police, it's with the concept of interdiction of crime, apprehension of criminals. But now this is almost like a community work, going house to house finding out what people needs are."
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"Like you said "paradigm shift" and I think it's the way forward. It's working for us and we have seen the benefit and we will continue to do it."
Jules Vasquez
"Now you say if you do this right now, you can rest a little easier this weekend in the expectation that well you've touch certain bases and maybe some friction that exist out there in the community you would have been able to quash. Explain to me that mind frame?"
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"What we find is that when we come out and speak to these different persons from different homes, sometime they have things brewing up during the period and their minding building up. You know if problems are building up in someone, they might just act it out at some point. We are here to speak to them and they would tell us what is the problem. Maybe the neighbor having problems. We speak to the neighbor and speak to the guy and we find out that it really helps."
Jules Vasquez
"So that you can de-escalate tense situations before maybe they blow up into a certain confrontation?"
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"Yes, that's what we are finding with this meet and greet situation."
Jules Vasquez
"But also in this area particularly, Lacroix Boulevard and Mckay, these areas, we know that the PIV gang has an active presence around here and we know that the PIV gang went through some changes with that ugly dispute that happened over the weekend. Explain to me will you all actually be liaising with principals of the PIV gang to make sure that retaliatory measures aren't taken?"
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"Since that incident occurred, on Tuesday we had a mediation session with the guys from PIV. Was about 40 persons in attendance and they had a good session and I don't think that they plan to do any retaliation."
Jules Vasquez
"When you are on the community policing initiative out here, will you also be liaising with principals of that gang?"
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"Yes, we will continue to dialogue with these people and to show them the better way of life."
Jules Vasquez
"Finally Mr. Dawson, is this a way of more effective policing in so far as actually saving man hours in terms responding to emergencies or also having to respond to situation, once it overheated, instead you deal with it upfront before its overheated. Are you all actually saving resources, saving man hours?"
Alden Dawson, OC - Police Precinct 2
"I believe that we are. We are saving a lot of man hours, a lot of unnecessary work. It is sort of a proactive policing - go after the problem. Solve it or deal with it before it actually occurs. So I think we are saving a lot of man hours and a lot of time."
Later on, we'll show you what the Northside police and the Rural police were doing today.
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