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ALTON – Alton Police Chief Jake Simmons said reaching out to the youth is becoming an essential part of community policing in his department.
The Department hosted its second incarnation of “Pizza with the Police.” Last year, the event, which was open to the public, took place at Senior Services Plus around the end of April. This year, Simmons said he wanted to target the youth, so it was held at the community center at Oakwood Estates in Alton. Hosting it in a neighborhood is another aspect of community policing being addressed by Simmons's department. Alongside youth outreach, the chief said he is going to focus more on neighborhood concerns and enforcement.
As many as 50 children were able to interact with officers during the Pizza with the Police at Oakwood Estates. Simmons said Carrollton Bank President Steve Thompson footed the bill for the pizzas, and the police department was able to provide paper plates, treats and drinks to the kids. The chief said similar community stakeholder contributions would help future endeavors.
“For this community policing model to work, we have to have the community to make it work,” he said. “A lot of it is youth engagement and community problem-solving meetings.”
Simmons had been hosting community problem-solving meetings at the police department for the better part of a few years, but stopped after only three people attended the December meeting.
“We've found over the last couple of years, people don't want to come down to the police department,” he said. “We stopped having problem-solving meetings at the police station in December. We had three in attendance. There are a lot of people who don't want to come down to the police department, and we understand that.”
Previous to the meetings being held at the police station, they were held at Brown Street Baptist Church, which Simmons said needed the space and the times for other things.
Currently, meetings are being held at a neighborhood-to-neighborhood basis with the most recent one being held near Henry Street with as many as 40 in attendance, Simmons said. A similar meeting was held in the Mid-Town region of Alton, with an upcoming one set to occur in the Holly Hills subdivision.
Already, these meetings have proved to be effective for the police department, as a recent wave of search warrant executions were done as a direct result of community tips.
“Our anonymous tip hotline is full when we get here on Monday mornings now,” Simmons said. “Our latest round of search warrants have come either from that or directly from members of the community. When we get information about a high-traffic house with people coming and going from all hours of the night, we have our mid-patrol officers park in front and do surveillance. From there, we do our thing. Like [Public Information Officer Emily Hejna] said, and it was a great quote, 'we hear you and are working hard for you.'”
Back to the youth; the Alton Police Department is going to host “Ballin' with a Cop” on Saturday, May 26, 2018, at the Alton YWCA. Alton Fourth Ward Alderperson Tammy Smith has been essential in creating that program, which allows youth to come shoot some hoops with police officers to get to know them and get a good workout in the process.
Additional youth outreach and engagement programs are also planned throughout the summer, such as a “Chillin' with the Chief” event at a yet-to-be-determined location, which will hand out ice cream to kids as they are able to meet and interact with Alton Police officers.
As school gets closer, Simmons said the department will also provide pizza to the Alton Boys and Girls Club. He added a juvenile diversion program operated through the department is also working to provide guidance and counseling to as many as six high school students who have gotten into some legal trouble but are being given a corrective second chance.
