NPD to begin Cops and Neighborhoods United program in January

The Newton Police Department is just a few weeks away from staffing an officers-led version of a neighborhood watch group for six zones throughout the city.

Cops and Neighborhoods United has three of their first six zone meetings ready for January.

The first is for Zone 5, which will take place at 6 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Christian Reformed Church, 511 S. Fifth Ave. E. The meeting for Zone 2 will take place 6 p.m. Jan. 15 at First United Methodist Church, 210 N. Second Ave. E. The third meeting in Zone 6 will take place at 6 p.m. Jan. 28 at The Way Church, 2306 S. Third Ave. E.

NPD Lt. Wayne Winchell said he is currently finalizing the first meetings for Zones 1, 3 and 4 for February.

“(The first meeting) kind of gives you an idea of what this is, how we developed the program, all the history and what our goals are,” Winchell said. “If they live in a zone, work in a zone or own property in a zone, this will probably be the key for them.”

At the Dec. 17 Newton City Council meeting, police chief Rob Burdess shared an update on how the Cops and Neighbors United program was developing.

“We really wanted to look at neighborhood policing. This is a concept that is really being used throughout the United States,” Burdess said. “Right now, patrol officers patrol the city, the entire city, and really their responsibility is the entire city for the most part. What we’re really looking at is building relationships in smaller sectors.”

According to Burdess, NPD gets more than 18,000 calls per year. A significant portion of those calls come from the repeat callers about the same types of situation in the same places. Having an officer monitor a designated area should provide more organization and swiftness in dealing with calls in each area, as well as developing relationships with citizens.

“Each month, we are supplying our zone officers with the stats for their zones,” said Winchell, who will oversee the implementation and management of Cops and Neighborhoods United. “Whether it will be (an) accident, a house receiving lots of calls, they start looking at these stats and see there’s a recurring issue and develop a plan to take care of that.

“This does not replace calling 911. This is something we can reach out and communicate about long-term within a neighborhood,” Winchell added. “Calling 911, it won’t necessarily be your zone officer responding. Officers will still respond to calls as normal.”

Officer Lovan has been given Zone 1, Officers Watson and Zylstra have Zone 2, Officer McDonnell has Zone 3, Officers Plowman and Walker have Zone 4, Officers Oldfield and Blom have zone 5 and Officers Eckert and Harden have Zone 6.

For people who cannot attend the meetings but want to learn more about Cops and Neighborhoods United, they can visit www.newtongov.org.

When Winchell worked for the Des Moines Police Department, he learned from a similar system that city used on a larger scale. An agency from South Dakota introduced the program to the metro police department, and after seeing the success it brought, people came in all over from the United States to train with those officers.

While some Des Moines police officers were hired specifically to be a zone officer, police in Newton will have the added zone responsibilities. Winchell said it may seem to them like additional work, but it will make their jobs easier in the long run.

“Initially, they might thing, ‘Whoa, I’m getting a new assignment’ or ‘I’ll have more work to do.’ But they’ll eventually get to know the people. The town is not large, so they know the town well. But as you get out there and mingle with the people face to face, now, all of the sudden, you have people willing to give you information and alert you to things that are going on that you didn’t know,” Winchell said. “In the end, it will make it easier for the officers. Initially, there will be more work involved.”

Contact Orrin Shawl at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or at oshawl@newtondailynews.com