Last week, I wrote about
crime prevention, and what you
as citizens can do to help. This
week, I would like to share some of the initiatives the police department has implemented to accomplish our collective goal – the reduction of crime.

I frequently say in speeches in the community, “We could put a police officer on every corner of Bartow and I still could not guarantee there would be no crime.” When I say this, I mean it in the sense that the police department’s effectiveness is, to a certain extent, in the hands of the residents. We cannot do it alone; it takes the dedication of the officers as well as support from the community, for us to be successful. So what are we doing to help in this joint venture?