Stark County Watchdog

Community Interaction unit 

             Canton police have struggled with the high crime rates committed in their community. In an effort to cut these crime rates they have created a new unit called the Community Initiative Team. “In the first five months of 2014, Canton saw a more than 8 percent increase of violent crime.” Lt. John Gabbard said. John is an Intelligence Commander for the Canton Police, which means he analyzes patterns of criminal activity and shares the information with department. They then set up “bulletins” for the participating community teams. There are currently 50 neighborhood associations working with the Canton police to improve their community safety. Gabbard also heads the Community Interaction Unit, which focuses on working with the community to solve problems in neighborhoods with the highest concentration of violent crime. Historically, the area within the city of Canton with the most crime has been Shorb/Summit area. This was an area that the Community Initiative Team really focused on and it has impacted greatly. With the help of veteran police officers, crime prevention techniques and new technology that helps alert police to gunfire, there has be a decline in violent crime so significantly that they have expanded their original demographics.

 

            The Community interaction Unit has been a huge success for John Gabbard and the city of Canton. They have seen a 51% decrease in violent crime in the first three months of their efforts.  The goal of this unit is to change the perception of police officers from strictly law enforcers to community partners.  When asked about the future of crime in Stark County and Gabbard said “I’m hopeful that there will be less crime in the future. Canton has already cut our total crime rate by 25% over the past seven years and I think we are only getting better at dealing with criminal activity. My goal is to be as prepared as possible and look forward with hope. By building our relationships with the community now we are investing in the future.”