Cheney police helping neighbors help one another

CHENEY – The Cheney Police Department is policing neighborhoods in a new way, following a plan that officials hope will inspire neighbors to reach out to one another and empower them to address problems in their communities.

Officers have been assigned to each of seven sectors of the city and tasked with getting to know the residents and finding out what issues concern neighbors. The idea is to identify peoples’ worries and work within communities to solve them, according to police Cmdr. Rick Campbell.

“The hope is to change the mind-set of officers from thinking of themselves strictly as officers but as resources,” he said.

As an example, Campbell cited the neighborhood near Greek Row, where there had been many complaints about parties and noise. He said a neighbor was upset because of noise and littering, and that the sororities and fraternities were upset because the neighbor kept making complaints against them.

Campbell said police approached the neighbor and the presidents of the sororities and fraternities and introduced them to one another. Together, they came up with a plan to have the organizations alert the neighbor before a party. They also promised to make sure that any litter would be cleaned up.

The introduction created a relationship between the residents and Greek Row. Both sides felt comfortable enough to approach the other and learn to live as neighbors, Campbell said.

Campbell said many crimes are related to others. When the Police Department started cracking down on minors in possession of alcohol or driving under the influence, other crimes, such as vandalism, also went down.

The hope is that once neighbors have established relationships with one another and the police, the crime rate will drop, he said.

According to the department’s monthly accountability review for January, theft and criminal alcohol offenses seem to be the biggest problems in Cheney. There were nine instances of theft that month and 17 criminal alcohol offenses.

“We get the same kinds of crime that Spokane gets,” Campbell said. But those crimes don’t happen as often as in the bigger city.

Campbell said there hasn’t been a murder in Cheney since 1972.

Sector 1 has been assigned to Officer Mike Taylor. He will serve the neighborhoods south of Betz, west of the Cheney-Spokane Road, north of Clay and Andrus and east of Second.

Officer Dave Bailey is introducing himself in Sector 2, south of Sector 1 and encompassing the area east to the city limits, south to F Street and then a boundary to the west to Second Street, along Elm and along Fifth Street to F.

Sector 3 covers the downtown core. Officer Nate Conley is assigned to this area, which has already determined its major issue is litter. Conley has been approaching business owners in the area to determine what can be done.

Officer Justin Hobbs is assigned to Section 4, south of the university and west of Washington. Campbell said this sector was easy for police to map out since there’s already an active Neighborhood Watch in the area.

Sector 5 will be covered by Sgt. William Benner and Sgt. Kelly Hembach. The sector will be broken up into two after the city hires another police officer. The sector covers the area northwest of Third Street, east of Washington and south of Elm.

Patrol Officer 1st Class Chris English will cover Sector 6, which includes the region south of Betz, north of Elm, east of Washington and west of Sixth.

Sector 7 covers the area east of Sixth, north of Elm, south of Best and west of Second. It also covers the neighborhood east of Normal Park Street, south of Paradise, west of Thistle Creek and north of Betz Road. Patrol Officer Zeb Campbell will be in charge of this sector.

With the community policing program in place, Cmdr. Campbell said he hopes neighbors will start to keep an eye out for one another.

“We want to lower crime by helping people take care of themselves,” he said.