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Independence, MO —
To the editor:
While the reluctance of the residents of Independence to pay higher taxes is understandable, they should be willing to donate their time to the Neighborhood Watch Program. The police can’t be everywhere all the time.
Now that we won’t be able to have 32 more police officers, citizens should step up to the plate by assisting the police. We have 26 Neighborhood Watch groups for the entire city with a population of 116,830.
I knew without reading the 2008 Berkshire Report or the 2010 Citizen’s Public Safety Task Force Report that crime has increased the last 15 years. I used to listen to my police scanner, and I noted that there was a dramatic increase of police calls every year. I have also noticed that the list of burglaries, stolen cars, assaults, arsons, robberies, etc. in The Examiner has lengthened.
I have been on three police ride-alongs, two of them in Independence. On one, there were so many calls at the same time, that the police couldn’t answer all of them. This is called a black-out, which I found scary and I wasn’t the person who called for help.
I learned in the Citizen Police Academy that many 911 calls result in something minor, but the officers answer them all. They risk their lives many times a day to help us and they have families, too.
If your neighborhood is interested in forming a watch group, please contact Officer John Syme, coordinator of the Crime Prevention Unit, at 816-325-7643 and he will schedule a time to talk to your neighborhood.
You may also email him at jsyme@indepmo.org.
For more information on the Neighborhood Watch program, the website is: www.indepmo.org/neighborhoodwatch
Thank you, Independence police officers, for all you do to prevent crime in our neighborhoods.
To the editor:
While the reluctance of the residents of Independence to pay higher taxes is understandable, they should be willing to donate their time to the Neighborhood Watch Program. The police can’t be everywhere all the time.
Now that we won’t be able to have 32 more police officers, citizens should step up to the plate by assisting the police. We have 26 Neighborhood Watch groups for the entire city with a population of 116,830.
I knew without reading the 2008 Berkshire Report or the 2010 Citizen’s Public Safety Task Force Report that crime has increased the last 15 years. I used to listen to my police scanner, and I noted that there was a dramatic increase of police calls every year. I have also noticed that the list of burglaries, stolen cars, assaults, arsons, robberies, etc. in The Examiner has lengthened.
I have been on three police ride-alongs, two of them in Independence. On one, there were so many calls at the same time, that the police couldn’t answer all of them. This is called a black-out, which I found scary and I wasn’t the person who called for help.
I learned in the Citizen Police Academy that many 911 calls result in something minor, but the officers answer them all. They risk their lives many times a day to help us and they have families, too.
If your neighborhood is interested in forming a watch group, please contact Officer John Syme, coordinator of the Crime Prevention Unit, at 816-325-7643 and he will schedule a time to talk to your neighborhood.
You may also email him at jsyme@indepmo.org.
For more information on the Neighborhood Watch program, the website is: www.indepmo.org/neighborhoodwatch
Thank you, Independence police officers, for all you do to prevent crime in our neighborhoods.
