New CRO Program Introduced

TYLER — Tyler Police Chief Gary Swindle made a presentation Wednesday to City Council to explain the amendments to the Community Response Crime Prevention Program and introduce each of the Community Response Officers, along with a description of the geographical beats for which they are responsible.

On October 13, 2010, the Council approved the acceptance of a grant for four additional police officers from the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Police Services (COPS). This grant will be for a three year period and save the City of Tyler $853,000. The additional officers allow the expansion of the department’s Community Response Officers (CROs) program from six officers to ten. This will reduce the geographical regions or beats for which each CRO is accountable. Police say the CROs will be able to respond faster to problems and work to develop more partnerships within the community to prevent crime.

Police say the CRO serves as liaison for the community; other local entities, private and public; and the police department, giving the citizen direct access for problem resolution. According to police, the patrol officers are deployed to the same geographical areas and work to resolve the community problems along with the CRO. Police say the CRO meets regularly with community groups and other entities to develop partnerships and coordinate problem resolution. Police add that when a problem is identified, the CRO, the community, the officers, and other resources are brought to bear to resolve the problem. According to officials, at the conclusion of the grant period the Police Department will retain these positions and will fully fund the positions within the Department’s budget.