Thursday August 28, 2014 – 1,000 homes “Knock & Talk” Effort
Beginning in 2013 and continuing through the summer of 2014 members of the Burlington Police Department, the Department of Corrections, the State Attorney’s Office, federal law enforcement partners, and professionals from the health community have continued with the door to door Community Impact Teams “Knock and Talk” initiative City-wide. Since May, over 1,200 homes in neighborhoods throughout the City have been canvassed.
The “Knock and Talk” initiative is a door-to-door outreach effort to the community. During these events we meet with residents and provide them with information regarding major issues that are affecting all of us in the community, focusing on opiate issues, property crime, and quality of life issues. Residents are provided with information as to how they can help their neighbors and the police to make Burlington a vibrant and safe community. Residents are also provided information containing resources and contact information for assistance with issues such as drug addiction and mental health treatment.
The initiative also gives officers and other members of the team a chance to have an open dialog with members of the community to hear their concerns and answer questions they may have.
The next “Knock and Talk” will occur Thursday the 28th from 4 to 6 pm in Burlington’s Hill section, welcoming students back to the neighborhood and talking with full-time residents as the school year begins. In addition to the information provided in the previous events, we will also be focusing on quality of life issues. Quality of life issues, highlighted by noise prevention efforts, remain an important component of community health as we continue working to keep our City vibrant, fun and safe.
In 2013 we made 1,613 contacts with members of the community during this initiative. To date this year we have made 1,208 contacts. In addition to these events, Burlington Police officers and Street Outreach team members have conducted over 1,825 foot patrols in neighborhoods so far in 2014. The goal for Thursday is to canvass 1,000 homes, eclipsing any other single “Knock and Talk” initiative done to date.
If anyone from the media would like to join us this Thursday, please contact Lt. Art Cyr at [email protected].
