The Hatfield Township Police Department formulated a Community
Policing Unit consisting of two officers whose duties involve the
community policing concept. The following list identifies some of the
community policing tasks and events these officers are involved in:
Community Policing Training
- Crime Prevention meetings and lectures
- Statistic gathering
- Compiling information for neighborhood watch newsletters
- Conducting neighborhood watch meetings
- Conducting block captain meetings
- Attending meetings involving government, community groups, service organizations, school groups, etc.
- Special events where community policing would flourish
- Develop community surveys/questionnaires to identify community policing needs
The
Hatfield Township Police Department’s focus is to change attitudes and
project a positive image to help in problem solving, thus improving
relations with the citizens of the community. Officers, as a result,
receive training in how to enlist the community in creative problem
solving and these officers have latitude in exploring new ways to
address a host of issues beyond the individual crime incidents. All
officers of the department are classified as community policing officers
and are full service police officers, not necessarily specialists. They
are generalists who can function in a broad fashion and diagnose the
strengths and weaknesses of the neighborhoods and jointly develop a plan
of action to resolve problems.