CLARKSVILLE, Tenn (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The face of law enforcement is evolving, and involvement, visibility and transparency are more important than ever before. In an effort to meet these new needs, the Clarksville Police Department has created a Community Relations Unit (CRU).
The Community Relations Unit’s (CRU) mission is to help build and strengthen positive relationships between citizens of the Clarksville community and the Clarksville Police Department through education, involvement, intervention, and policing initiatives. As part of CPD’s commitment to improve quality of life, the CRU works with the community to identify and analyze crime hazards in our community and come up with strategies to help minimize them. The unit also offers the citizens of Clarksville a variety of services, including safety presentations and community outreach initiatives.
The officers selected to serve in the community relations unit are specially trained and devoted to Clarksville’s citizens. The CRU has hit the ground running with activities such as Coffee with a Cop, Hop with a Cop, Teen and Adult Citizens Police Academy, and National Night Out just to name a few.
A program which falls under the auspices of the CRU is the Neighborhood Watch Program. Neighborhood Watch programs are a way to help make a neighborhood safer by residents working together, in conjunction with local law enforcement, to reduce crime and improve quality of life.
Some of the other programs which fall under the CRU are Crime Prevention and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design; officers can come to a business or residence and provide security improvement recommendations. Since there have been tremendous strides in technology, the CRU would like to work with the community to embrace and share technology as a crime fighting tool.
This Community Relations Unit is part of the Police Department’s overall Community Oriented Policing philosophy adopted by all employees. Community Oriented Policing includes both traditional and nontraditional strategies. Prevention, problem solving and most importantly communication between citizens and officers are the “keys” to reducing crime and fear.
The Clarksville Police Department considers themselves fortunate, in that they believe bond between the citizens and the Clarksville Police Department is strong and united. The intention of the community relation unit is to build that bond even stronger and to further expand and improve our outreach to the community.
For assistance or information about the community relations unit, please contact Sgt Jones, 931-648-0656, ext. 5276.