'Chief's Watch' citizen meetings designed to increase community involvement in Cocoa policing
A new initiative by Cocoa Police Department aims to get citizens more involved with policing in their communities through a program called Chief's Watch.
It will involve monthly meetings and police-citizen liaisons.
The project designed by police Chief Evander Collier is modeled after the traditional neighborhood watch programs but with more active involvement, including guest speakers from the department to answer citizen questions. As of now, the meetings are being divided geographically by voting district in order to maintain a more direct, localized approach to community policing, officials said.
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"The chief's objective is to get these communities involved and active in their police department and take ownership of their quality of life and safety in their communities," said Cocoa PD spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez.
She said the meetings will allow the department to outline their goals and objectives and present residents "with the most current and up-to-date information."
Guest speakers may include the Volunteer Cop coordinator or the code enforcement manager or detectives who investigate major crimes, Martinez said. The end-goal is for the communities to develop and host their own meetings where the police department and chief will be invited to hear focused concerns and suggestions.
"It's really a way for people to more directly let us know what problems and concerns they have in their specific communities and what potential solutions there might be," Martinez said.
At the first meeting, held at Joe Lee Smith Community Center in Cocoa's District 1 in early February, Chief Collier fielded questions on various issues from property crimes, harassment, drugs and homelessness. The upcoming meetings are scheduled for:
District 2: Matthew's Hope Ministries, 825 Forrest Ave.; Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m.
District 3: Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1500 Cox Road; Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.
District 4: Cocoa Fire Station 1, 1740 Dixon Blvd; Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.
"It's like the old neighborhood watch but restructured," Martinez said. "A new take on the old idea. We're just trying to take it to a different level."
The Chief's Watch program comes within months of a police union vote of no-confidence in Chief Collier, who made history as the city of Cocoa's first Black police chief but has also drawn sharp criticism over his leadership in the past two years. City leaders have hired outside mediators to resolve tensions between rank-and-file officers and leadership. City manager Stockton Whitten and the City Council have shown support for Collier, who they credit with making necessary changes and improvements to the department, saying change sometimes comes with dissatisfaction and growing pains.
Tyler Vazquez is the Brevard County and North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Cocoa police-citizen meetings designed to increase community involvement
