Lima Police Chief Martin addressed the Lima Rotary Club at the Veterans Civic Center Monday afternoon promoting the idea of community policing.
Chief Martin outlined the importance of building partnerships with schools, places of worship, and individuals to serve the public. He says the traditional model of policing with a 'we're the police, and you're not' attitude hasn't been working. He says trusting community members to help identify problems is the best approach and believes this approach has helped the crime rate decrease by 20% compared to this time last year.
"The traditional policing model is one in which the community really doesn't have a lot of input. The police decide you know, what the problems are in the community and how the best to approach them. The idea of community policing on the other hand is engaging the community, find out what the community believes is the problem and does the community want those problems solved," commented Chief Martin.
Martin says the community is best served by reaching out to young people so they can grow up with a positive attitude toward law enforcement and he says they need the support of the community to be successful.
He says crime prevention rather than reaction is another focus of the department.
