Danville Police Chief Chris Yates has unveiled a five year strategic plan that he says will include the creation of three special units. One of them involves the return of the POP unit – which concentrates on problem oriented policing….
{We’re also going to have what we’re calling a Community Housing Unit. And this is going to be a second unit that we haven’t talked about,” said Chief Yates. ”And what this is is very similar to what the COPS Program was before. It’s going to be under the umbrella of the Criminal Investigations Division. They’re going to be helping them as well as helping create strategies on how we’re going to proactively deal with different problems. And they’ll work in conjunction with the POP Unit, as well as sharing intelligence among all the units.”}
During a Public Services Committee meeting of the Danville City Council last night Chief Yates (shown here) said a third unit being proposed will concentrate on traffic safety. He says that unit will be smaller than the POP and Community Housing units, but will be just as important.
Mayor Rickey Williams Junior says officers assigned to those units will not be responding to regular calls….
{”What’s happening right now is, lets say that they are at an orientation and they are working with new residents at – lets say Fair Oaks or Green Meadows and they get a call for some type of disturbance – boom. Because we have so few folks on the street at one time, they have to leave right away. Well now, when they are assigned to these specific areas they will be able to spend time at the housing authorities – getting to know the residents and build relations with them – and to develop that trust and communication that we’ve had in the past,” said the Mayor.
Chief Yates says some veteran officers will start being assigned to the units as soon as six new officers complete their training at the Police Training Institute.
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[This story by Neuhoff Media Danville News Director Bill Pickett. Got a news tip? Give Bill a call at (217) 709-1245, or contact him at BillPickett@Neuhoffmedia.com.]
