Cops Needs Neighbors For Success

Logan COPS, Nevada-Lidgerwood COPS Duane Willmschen

625-3333 (Logan), 625-3353 (Neva-Wood)

Duane Willmschen started in law enforcement in 1974, but said he’s now in the most rewarding job he’s ever had.

“Here I get to work with people who want to help others,” he said. “I still handle neighbor-hood problems, but I get to see strangers helping strangers. That keeps me going.”

Willmschen serves as the neighborhood resource officer for both the Nevada-Lidgerwood and Logan neighbor-hoods. He sees one of his main roles as matching people to appropriate resources.

“I like to find partners to work with. I like to find where the need is and plug people into those needs,” he said. “The COPS shop is a conduit for other organizations to reach out into the community.”

With roughly 30,000 people in Willmschen’s area - Logan, Nevada-Lidgerwood and Shiloh Hills - he is busy. He’s now working toward getting more volunteers out in the neighborhoods.

“You know you have a program going when people are out in the neighborhood,” he said.

The one thing he’d like people to know about COPS substations is that they are only as strong as their volunteers.

“They’re for people who want to be involved in the community, who want to work together to fight crime and improve the quality of life,” Willmschen said.

COPS Northeast Bonnie Sherar 625-3343

One of Bonnie Sherar’s main projects since starting at COPS Northeast in 1998 has been to help fix up the Martindale Apartments. The dilapidated building attracted drug addicts and was a source of constant calls for police service.

But now, thanks to a community outpouring, things have changed. Tenants are proud of their building, and aren’t afraid to talk to one another.

“It’s a huge success to get an attitude change to that degree,” Sherar said.

In addition to organizing such projects, Sherar said she sees her job as a type of resource director.

“We help people come together to resolve problems in the neighborhood,” she said. “We’re a resource to police officers and a clearinghouse for information.”

Sherar said it has been a huge learning experience for her to switch from being a patrol officer, and she has enjoyed all she’s learned from volunteers.

“I like that it’s my job to sit and talk with people,” she said.

Though COPS NE is holding steady with a devoted group of about 30 volunteers, Sherar said they are always looking for more help.

“We’re not asking for hours and hours, just whatever they can give,” she said.

COPS Northwest Kellee Bunch 625-3336

Since becoming the Shadle-area neighborhood resource officer 20 months ago, Kellee Bunch said she has gained hundreds of new sets of grandparents.

“The people here are really good to me,” she said. “I’ve grown fond of the Shadle area.”

Because Bunch has more than 44,000 houses within her coverage area, she often relies on the assistance of the substation’s 105 volunteers. They provide her information, which she then feeds to patrol officers. Get-ting that information is one of the job’s chal-lenges. Another challenge is spreading the word about services the COPS shop provides.

“It’s getting people educated about the programs available to them and having them learn how to help themselves, and rely on police for emergencies,” she said.

But part of the importance of the substation, Bunch said, is letting people know they can rely on the police.

“It helps bridge the gap from the community to police officers stuck in a patrol car,” she said. “It helps let people know we’re in the community to serve them.”

Though her job keeps her moving constantly, she said she likes being an important part of the neighborhood.

“It’s enjoyable to put names and faces with the community that I work in,” she said.

TOP COPS, COPS North Central Rick Albin 625-3350 (TOP), 625-3348 (North Central)

Rick Albin took over as the downtown neighborhood resource officer five years ago.

At the time, drug-dealing and prostitution were common on the block where the sub-station was located. The 26-year police veteran worked hard to clean up the neighborhood.

He did such a good job, he said half-jokingly, that KHQ-TV bought the property and the substation had to move.

Neighborhood resource officers work diligently with area residents, but Albin also works with the downtown business community. He sees himself as a liaison between businesses and the Police Department.

“Downtown Spokane is very unique. It has 3,000 residents, but a population of 25,000 to 30,000 during the day. These are people who work downtown but don’t really have a community connection there,” Albin said.

He faxes information on crimes and business scams to downtown merchants and they, in turn, fax him information on suspicious activity.

Downtown Spokane’s most significant social and criminal issue, Albin said, is homeless youth. Many are both offenders and victims, trapped in a vicious cycle where they commit crimes to feed drug addictions.

“They want to survive and this is how they do it,” he said. It’s a problem that Spokane will not be able to solve easily.

Two weeks ago, Albin also assumed the COPS North Central area.

COPS Southwest, COPS West Max Hewitt 625-3328 (Southwest), 625-3340 (West)

Max Hewitt is an out-and-about kind of officer.

“I feel it’s important to be out in the community and visible as much as possible,” he said. “People are my stock and trade.”

Hewitt spent much of his career in gang-ridden San Diego. He knows gangs, and said Spokane has its share.

Browne’s Addition falls under Hewitt’s area of responsibility. He said he’s observed what he describes as a swath of gang activity running from the South Hill’s southwest corner through Browne’s Addition and up to the neighborhoods north of the historic district.

When he identifies where gang members live in his area, he makes a point of knocking on their doors.

“I talk to them. For one thing, I can gather intelligence from them. But for another, when I knock on their door, they know they are being watched,” he said.

Other problems high on his priority list are absentee landlords and vehicle prowlings.

Hewitt became a resource officer, he said, because he was tired of patrolling. “All you ever do is respond to calls.”

As an NRO, Hewitt feels like he can effect long-term solutions to crime.

“This is a lot more fun and satisfying,” he said. “And, I work with a lot of good people.”