Community policing pays real dividends

Assigning a Rock Hill police officer specifically to walk the downtown beat was a terrific idea. Maybe the department should expand that program to other parts of the city.

Officer Wayne Maury hopes to become the familiar and friendly face of the police department in downtown Rock Hill. He has been the community service officer in the city’s historic downtown since June.

Maury, a veteran of several years on the force, performs all the regular functions of a police officer – keeping an eye out for crime, listening to issues of downtown merchants, discouraging littering and other minor infractions. But a big part of his job is public relations.

“I’m tasked to basically develop good community relationships in the area and problem solve,” he explains.

That includes greeting and getting to know the people downtown, whether they’re shop owners, lunch customers or construction workers. He also makes it a point to talk with business people to learn what’s on their minds and if there are problems he and the police department can help them with.

Maury said the department usually approaches city administrators about adding manpower and makes its pitch. In this case, however, it was the city that approached the department about adding an officer to patrol downtown.

Downtown is not one of the city’s major crime sectors. Jaywalking, shoplifting and illegal parking are likely be the worst offenses an officer is likely to encounter on a day-to-day stroll through downtown.

Again, though, this beat is not just about crime. It’s also about fostering good relations with the public and serving as an easily approachable liaison for the police department.

Some are old enough to remember when cops walked a regular neighborhood beat, interacting with children and their parents, helping to deter crime just by being there. And those who are younger probably have seen old-time neighborhood police depicted in movies.

Walking a beat requires more time and, in many cases, more police than patroling in a squad car. And officers can cover far more ground in a patrol car than they can on foot.

But the benefits derived from having Officer Maury walk the streets of downtown Rock Hill several times a week are considerable from the standpoint of promoting good will and deterring crime. And that is likely to apply in other parts of the city as well.

Developing the trust of residents is a big plus. People who might be reluctant to mention a problem to an officer with whom they are aren’t familiar are more likely to open up to a beat cop they see and talk to frequently.

The city has experimented with different types of community policing, including bicycle patrols and neighborhood substations. We like to believe those efforts helped establish a better rapport between residents and the department.

And we think that putting Officer Maury downtown will have similar results. Community policing is a good idea that should be a part of the police department’s strategic approach to making streets safer throughout the city.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Community policing pays real dividends."