Full Notification

During the first week of the New Year, the Hope Mills Police Department Records Division submitted preliminary 2011 Crime Statistics to Chief Hassell for his review. This report showed an overall 11% year over year drop in the overall crime rate for the Town of Hope Mills.

There are several reasons for this significant drop in crime. Not the least of which is the proactive policing of the Officers of the Hope Mills Police Department along with organizational changes that contributed to this reduction. For instance, In early 2011, the Hope Mills Police Department implemented a zone based policing system where Officers of the shift are assigned to specific geographic areas of the city. Previous to last year Officers conducted random patrols throughout the city. This new system has enabled the Officers to conduct more thorough patrols as well as respond in a more timely manner to calls for service and in-progress crimes. Consequently, the faster response times have resulted in more on-scene arrests of suspects. This was recently evidenced by the Friday, December 30 on-scene arrest of a home invasion suspect.

Also in 2011, the Hope Mills Police Department added Watch Commanders to the Patrol Shifts. This not only put a command staff level Officer in the field but, also enabled better information flow between shifts and provided for better communication of ideas, concerns, and information flow to the Administrative Staff of the Department from the Officers in the field and vice versa. Simply put, information concerning crime patterns and suspects is now actionable and timely.

Along with the above improvements, an extra Officer was also added to each Patrol Shift adding to the deterrent effect of the Patrol Shifts. More Officers on the street directly translates to more visibility. This effect can be evidenced by the 14% decline in burglary and property crimes.

Another very important and often overlooked component of the drop in crime is more involvement from the citizens of Hope Mills. Citizens within residential areas are becoming more active in formal and informal Community Watch Groups and are doing their part to maintain partnerships with the Police Department and look out for their neighbors.

As seen above, there were several important and proactive components which directly contributed to the decline in crime. The Hope Mills Police Department intends to continue this positive trend into the new year by continuing to implement new systems, develop innovative, and creative policing methods, and most importantly, continue to work closely with our residents to provide a safe community.