Officers Focus on
Relationships with Tenants
In
May of 1991,
the Florence Police Department and Florence Housing Authority entered
into an agreement together to provide more needed law enforcement in
the areas owned and managed by the Authority.
Ken Davis, Chris Arreola, and Bennie Johnson are
the three full-time, academy-trained police officers who together work
16 hours a day, seven days a week out of two offices each located in
the housing communities -- one in Cherry Hill Homes, another in Carver
Homes. The officers are responsible for 659 units and 1321 individuals.
The officers handle a wide range of
responsibilities including meeting with investigators, responding to
calls for assistance in public housing, writing reports on criminal
activity, maintaining surveillance of gang and drug activity,
conducting background investigations on potential residents, patrolling
on foot, motor scooters, and police cars, attending gang recognition
seminars, attending monthly firearm training, reporting to the Housing
Authority Director weekly, holding meetings with problem tenants,
assisting in tenant evictions, and maintaining an "open door" policy so
tenants can have easy access to officers.
Officer Davis said the job is what he considers
community based policing. "We have that open door policy and tenants
know they can come in this office anytime, for anything," he said.
"We've learned how to be psychologists around here, and not just police
officers."
The officer-goal is to focus on the development
of relationships with residents by showing concern for their status and
encouraging them to accept responsibility for solving their own
individual problems in addition to helping maintain the overall quality
of life in the housing communities.
On a weekly basis, the officers are given the
names of all new residents to make personal contact with.
For more information, contact the officers at
(256) 760-4712.
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