Davis Police Chief Landy Black was a featured speaker at the Davis Progressive Business Exchange conference on Wednesday at noon. He spoke about the Davis Police Department’s (DPD) community policing philosophy. The meeting took place at the Davis International House (I-House).
Due to the recent influx in Davis crime, the Progressive Business Exchange found it fitting to have a speaker on this issue.
“I appreciate Chief Landy for being active in the community … I really enjoyed the meeting. I think he does a great job addressing problems before they even come up,” said Bob Bockwinkel, president of the Davis Progressive Business Exchange.
The Progressive Business Exchange has been active in the community for the last five years. It is comprised of 30 to 40 local businesses and nonprofits with the intention of providing support to one another.
“The mission is to help members come together to educate ourselves and get referrals. We are about promoting business between members and the public at large,” Bockwinkel said.
Chief Black discussed the effect the community policing approach has had on creating a safer city.
“It was interesting to hear that property crimes are most prevalent. He shared a statistic that 90 percent of property crimes could be alleviated if people just secured their property. It’s a crime of opportunity. If they can’t get in, they leave. It’s that simple,” Bockwinkel said.
Chief Black stressed the importance of a community effort in alleviating such crimes of opportunity.
“We have a community policing and problem-solving philosophy we teach to all department employees. It is meant to identify what issues occur and to assess who may be best able to solve the problem,” said Davis Police Captain Darren Pytel, who worked for the DPD for the past 25 years.
Community policing has been an active philosophy and method implemented by the DPD for quite some time. It is a preemptive method used to create an atmosphere where crime and other issues can be approached through problem solving.
“It’s an intelligence-led policing that is meant to predict what crime might occur and allow us to make operational decisions to plan what resources to deploy,” Pytel said.
The I-House that hosted the Progressive Business Exchange community meeting is also dedicated to a strong Davis community.
“The I-House is an independent nonprofit that’s been around for 32 years. The crime in Davis hasn’t touched us specifically, but we are aware that some I-House members are targeted,” said Elisabeth Sherwin, I-House executive director.
Bockwinkel said he is confident in Black’s approach to maintaining the vibrant Davis community.
“Chief Black works hard and he’s involved in the community. You need all those components to have a lasting and significant impact,” Bockwinkel said.
GABRIELLA HAMLETT can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
