Wausau Police Department. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau Police Department is working on plans for a new approach to community outreach in the Hawthorne Hills district.
Lieutenant Jacob Chittum says they received a grant this summer to set up a “COP House,” or Community Oriented Policing House. He says it’s an approach that’s proven successful in places like Racine, Mount Pleasent, and St. Cloud, Minnesota which involves assigning officers to staff the house to provide community-oriented services.
“That could be a number of different things,” said Chittum. “It could be holding after-school activities with children. It could mean partnering with other organizations within the city [to provide space] for them to meet with clients that can’t travel to their location.”
Chittum says he’s heard of one example from Mt. Pleasent where officers held a community bonfire after learning that some children in the neighborhood had never had s’mores. He says the hope is that officers in Wausau will have that kind of flexibility as well.
Officers chose the Hawthorne Hills neighborhood based on several metrics including call volume and academic reports from the Wausau School District which show low academic performance and projected graduation rates. Data has shown that areas with COP Houses have seen improvement in all those areas thanks to tutoring programs offered at the house and by officers working with landlords to clean up the neighborhood.
“That helps decrease renter turnover and increase the quality of life and property values. All of which have been measured and documented in other cities with COP Houses,” said Chittum.
Chittum adds that the Wausau PD doesn’t want residents of the neighborhood to think that they are being picked on or will be watched more closely because of the added police presence. He says officers are there to help. “This isn’t a tactic to take enforcement action on every little thing that we see. It’s all about outreach and connecting with the community [through the goal] of community-oriented policing. Making this neighborhood a better place to live.”
The Department is looking to close on a site along Jefferson Street to build the COP House. Chittum says it’s too soon to say when the house will be built and running, or how many officers will be working there when it is functional. Community organizations who have ideas on how to improve services in the area by partnering with the department are encouraged to contact Lt. Chittum directly at 715-261-7973.
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