Chrisman to move forward with Sheriff candidate Cochran’s program
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At last month’s Chrisman city meeting, it was decided that the town would move forward with the Neighborhood Watch. The next step is to set up a community meeting to begin the process. The plan is to have the meeting as soon as possible at the Chrisman American Legion.
The Neighborhood Watch program was started by Edgar County Sheriff Candidate Doug Cochran and Scott Foster. “It’s going very well in Paris,” Cochran said. “They’ve arrested several people through tips on the neighborhood watch.”
Along with Chrisman, the Village of Kansas has also approved the program.
Currently, Cochran and Foster are working with Kansas due to their Police Chief resigning. “They have a new police chief and we’re working with him.”
With the neighborhood watch, you have to have a law enforcement liaison to make it work. Without a chief in place, the program is impossible to move forward. Once the chief is on board, the steps can be taken. “As we told the council (Chrisman), we really need the Chief on board,” Cochran said. “That’s really important for the process to move forward.”
The program was something that Cochran wanted to do as one of his campaign options and continued to start if he were to be elected, moving it into a county-wide watch.
“With all the uptick in crime and everything in Paris, I asked to speak at a council meeting in Paris. It took off quick,” Cochran said. “The council wanted to proceed with it, the Chief of Police wanted to proceed with it as well. We got a group together and we made it happen. Now I’m wanting to bring it out into the counties. It’s going to be an asset to local departments and the County Sheriff’s Department.”
Due to Paris having a large demographic area, it was broken into twelve sectors. This was set forth by the National Sheriff’s Association. The sectors were assigned ‘Block Captains’. The Captain will have somewhere between twenty-five and thirty houses. “That’s why we break it up into sectors so it’s not just one big chunk.”
When it comes to Chrisman, the town will be divided into possibly two sectors. Kansas will need just one sector. “We need to get people involved, We have information to hand out to help them get going and moving forward,” Cochran said.
After getting residents interested, block captains will be assigned. The Block Captains will be responsible for getting neighbors interested. Cochran had noticed a common misconception when it came to reporting the crimes. Some people are afraid to call in due to being found out. “The thing about it is, no one knows. You’re not calling and saying ‘Hey, I’m such and such on such and such street’. That’s not how they’re going to report it to 911.”
The report is considered a visualizing report. Those calling are never to confront the issue, so no one will know who called in.
The community meeting is still to be set. Be sure to check back in future editions of The Chrisman Leader for a date and time.
