JCPD considers community listening sessions successful

The Jefferson City Police Department, in cooperation with Empower Missouri’s central area committee, held the fifth and final event in a series of community listening sessions Saturday.

The sessions were aimed at affording Jefferson City citizens from each ward the opportunity to voice any comment or complaint to the city’s police department.

JCPD Capt. Eric Wilde said the sessions were helpful in improving communication between the department and the public.

“I don’t feel that there was a lack of dialouge,” Wilde said. “In certain groups or in certain areas of town, maybe it wasn’t going on frequently enough, but we do have converstaions with the community a lot.”

Subjects brought up in the meetings included community policing.

“I was able to explain that we focus on community policing here everyday,” said Wilde. “It’s about being out in the community, communicating with them, being problem-solvers and basically being partners with our community.”

Wilde told ABC 17 News one goal that was established as a result of the listening sessions was to improve community education about how citizens can get involved with and support the programs and activities sponsored by the department, including:

Bicycle patrols Foot patrols The Night Eyes Program The Neighborhood Watch Program The Citizens Police Academy Crime Free Multi-Housing training for landlords Crime free business training for local businesses R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) training Crime-Stoppers Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) training D.A.R.E School resource officers H.O.P.E. (Heroin Overdose Prevention and Education) Citizen Ride Along / Field Observation Program (includes 911 communications center) Haunted Precinct Halloween Safety event Bank teller alarm training

“We’re only as good as our citizens will allow us to be,” Wilde said. “They have to cooperate with us, give us information and if they see something, say something to us. That’ll help us be more efficient in what we’re doing.”

Jefferson City police investigated seven homicides in 2018, the most for a single year in at least a decade.

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