The Davenport Police have started a crime prevention program that targets specific neighborhoods and the police officers involved say its working. The NETS program which stands for Neighborhoods Energized to Succeed, is designed to help officers build relationships with people living and working in the troubled areas.
The NETS program was started 3 years ago and Corporal Andrew Harris says the better communication has lowered crime rates.
“We are reaching out the neighbors and giving them our cell phone numbers and emails,” Harris says. “We are establishing that trust and since we have that foundation, we do see those numbers go down.”
Corporal Harris is assigned to the Hilltop Neighborhood and says the residents have been receptive and want their presence around.
The residents aren’t the only ones that appreciate the extra attention, the Lydia Home says it has changed their program.
The Lydia Home is a Christian based program that offers afterschool and summer programs for neighborhood children. Director, Joyce Klopp says together the Lydia Home and the NETS Program is changing the children’s idea of what a police officer can be.
Klopp says, “The kids are just so used to seeing police officers when something is wrong and to know they are their friends, they can see them in a whole different light.”
Klopp says it is changing their lives for the better.
“Their goals have changed,” She says. “We see them in the future doing things they never thought they could do.”
The NETS Program includes six different targeted neighborhoods that include the Hilltop Neighborhood (around 14th and Gaines), the Heatherton area, NETS East (around Pershing and 12th St.), Downtown area, GooseCreek and the area off of Kimberly behind Dahl Ford. Community meetings are held once a month in each of those areas.
More information can be found on the Davenport Police Department’s website.