Official Lockport, NY Government & Tourism Information ~ Erie Canal Locks & Flight of Five

Community Policing Program
The Lockport Police Department Community Policing Program has established itself with realistic goals and objectives. Community policing is recognition that members of a community share a responsibility for the safety and welfare of their community with the police. Community policing is not a program. It is a working philosophy that requires police agencies to work in partnership with the community they serve to find new, creative and innovative ways to solve the root problems that cause crime. In other words, we work together to treat the disease, not just treat the symptom. When employed effectively, Community Policing has proven to provide lasting results by finding permanent solutions to root problems. Community relations are a major part of our crime prevention efforts. The initiative was continued this past year in an effort to continue to improve our relations with the community.

The Community Policing Initiative continues to undergo modification to accommodate the public need for liaison activities within the constraints of our staffing. We continued a program whereby officers contacted members of the community through personal contacts. This contact is intended to help our community feel at ease with our department, and to get to know us on a more personal basis. This is an innovative approach to working with our community to enlist their assistance in aspects of policing in Lockport. The Community Policing Aide assigned to the community policing program spends most of his time working with community members in areas such as educational programming, police/community relations, early intervention in conflict resolution, crime awareness and various other outreach programs. The intent of the program is to ask the community to become involved with their police department so that we can provide the appropriate services to our constituents in an effective and meaningful way.

Activities of the Community Policing program have been: Church and community education program. Youth Fingerprint and safety presentations, Bicycle Safety Week done in conjunction with our patrolmen, community representative for dispute settlement, gang awareness seminars, and Senior safety talks.

The program successfully launched Neighborhood watch groups within the city of Lockport and is in process of developing more.
We have participated and supported the Landlord Training program done in conjunction with the Niagara County District Attorney's Office.
Provide the school district education on gang awareness.