By Martin E. Comas
The Orlando Sentinel
MOUNT DORA, Fla. — Residents in the city’s northeast side soon will get to know police officers on a more personal level. But not in a bad way.
In an effort to build relationships with residents and crack down on crime, police will have at least two officers every day patrolling the area bounded by Donnelly Street, 11th Avenue, U.S. Highway 441 and Limit Avenue.
Besides cruising the neighborhood in their patrol cars, the officers also will walk or ride their bikes to meet with residents. And they will take part in community and homeowner-association meetings, conduct crime-prevention programs and join in youth activities.
“We’d like to see the officers be on a first-name basis with the residents,” police Chief Randy Scoggins said. “It truly will be community policing.”
Scoggins hopes to start the program in early October after getting approval from the City Council. He plans to transfer two experienced officers into the area and then hire a new officer.
The crime rate in the northeast side is high compared with the rest of Mount Dora. In recent years, there have been shootings, drug dealings, assaults, robberies and domestic batteries, mostly in the area surrounding the Oakwood Apartments complex on Lincoln Avenue.
The community policing will encourage residents to report and provide information about crimes, Scoggins said.
Cleveland Hickson, 51, who has lived in the city’s northeast side for most of his life, welcomed the news, saying the effort will go far in putting families at ease.
“Uniformed police officers in police cars can normally intimidate an individual,” Hickson said. “But a police officer in a uniform, just walking up and saying: `How are you? How are you all doing,’ goes a long way.”
However, the key to a successful community-policing program, Hickson said, is having officers with a pleasant personality and attitude.
As a police officer, “You’ve got to break the ice,” he said. “It’s all up to the officers on their approach.”
After the community-policing program is started, residents will be encouraged to voice their comments and offer suggestions about the effort.
“It’s a work in progress,” council member Robert Thielhelm said. “It’s going to require feedback from the community.”
In the past year, Mount Dora has made efforts to improve the northeast side and draw new businesses.
The city is rebuilding Frank Brown Field into a multipurpose athletic complex. It recently helped restore the historic 100-year-old Witherspoon Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons on Clayton Street. And Mount Dora is working toward bringing in a new elementary school.
Also, City Council met Tuesday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center on Florida Avenue.
“We want to see businesses come in and flourish there, and help the community be a better place to live,” Thielhelm said.
Copyright 2007 The Orlando Sentinel