Community Policing Initiatives
Currently the Greenville Police Department utilizes numerous methods and programs to address the city's crime and drug-related problems. These methods are also directed toward crime prevention and furthers our philosophy of community-oriented policing.
IMPACT
Area Policing Plan
Citizen's Police Academy
Increased Mobilization of Police And Communities Together (IMPACT)
IMPACT’s mission is a philosophy and managerial strategy based on the idea that our officers develop a partnership to work together with private citizens, other departmental resources, city, state and private local resources in order to create ways to initiate pro-active short and long term efforts to reduce crime, social decay, and the physical decay of neighborhoods.
Historically, we have been applying this philosophy in specific targeted areas, but now we have expanded the philosophy to the entire city. Our mission is the provision of programs and services that foster police community relations, crime prevention awareness participation, identification and apprehension of offenders, maintenance of public order, the protection of lives and property, and the overall improvement of the quality of life of our citizens. The officers maintain an office at the IMPACT Substation on 1124 West 5th St. (pictured below) which is staffed on a part-time basis.
Two Core Components of Community Policing for this process:
1) Community-Police Partnership
- Getting to know the community.
- Attending neighborhood meetings.
- Going door to door / foot patrol / bicycle patrol.
- Becoming in tune with citizens concerns.
- Organizing Neighborhood / Community events
- Developing trusting relationships with citizens.
2) Problem Solving
- An approach where officers seek to work with and empower identified stakeholders to identify, analyze, and provide solutions to underlying circumstances that create surface incidents that negatively impact the overall quality of life in a neighborhood.
- Problem Solving is the action that drives this philosophy.
- A solved community problem or concern is what determines our productivity and effectiveness.
Housing Authority Unit
The Greenville Police Department Housing Authority Unit is a partnership program between the Greenville Police Department and the Greenville Housing Authority. The partnership provides police officers to perform motor and foot patrols in Greenville's public housing communities. These officers also participate in community meetings and other functions at the request of the Greenville Housing Authority and various citizen's groups. The officers of the Housing Authority Unit maintain an office at 1103 Broad St.
This program was recognized as one of the top ten innovative, effective programs in the world by being the recipient of the prestigious Webber-Seavey Award. The award was presented at the 100th Annual Conference of the International Associations of Chief of Police. The Housing Authority Unit is part of the IMPACT team under the Department's Patrol Special Operations under the supervision of Lt. N. Lucas You can contact the Housing Authority Unit at 252-329-5138 or you may contact Lt. N. Lucas at nlucas@greenvillenc.gov or by calling 252-329-4358.
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Area Policing Plan
Through the Area Policing Plan, the citizens residing in the various geographical areas within the city limits of Greenville now have personal contact with police officers who they become familiar and comfortable with. This aspect of the Area Policing Plan is consistent with Community Policing Initiatives from across the United States. Area Commanders are able to focus the activities of officers in each district in a tailor-made approach to ensure the most effective and efficient response to the problems in the area. Also, the district officers will work to help empower the community members in their respective districts to develop solutions to identified problems. These techniques develop strong community/police bonds that allow for better working relationships, increased quality of life and decreased criminal activity. For complete details on the philosophies and strategies behind the Area Policing Plan, click here.
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Citizen's Police Academy
As part of our community oriented policing philosophy, the Greenville Police Department has implemented the Citizen's Police Academy. The centerpiece of Community Oriented Policing is to begin to maintain a partnership between the police and the community. The Citizen's Police Academy is an addition to our commitment to serving the citizens of Greenville. For more information on the Citizen's Police Academy contact Lt. E. Carson ecarson@greenvillenc.gov or call him at 252-329-4339. Click here for the City of Greenville’s Citizens Police Academy Registration form.
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