TC Police Department Closes Downtown Office
TRAVERSE CITY -- The Traverse City Police Department has closed its busiest sector policing office.
The Downtown Sector Policing Office is located in the offices of the Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau. It served as a part of the community policing program that started in the 1980’s. The police department had five community offices around the city, now they only have four.
Captain Steve Morgan says “it is a cooperative effort between the officer and people in those areas to solve problems that come up and address issues both criminal and non-criminal. We certainly don't want our police department to be a reactive only police department. You want to be able to be proactive and address issues before they become bigger issues."
With bars, restaurants, shops, and neighborhoods in the area, Captain Morgan says it is the busiest sector. However, they still closed it.
Captain Morgan says "we had to reassign a couple beat officers back into regular patrol and now due to a person leaving our staff has been reduced."
Patrol duties are divided into East, Central, and West. Calls for service downtown are now going to be handled by those patrolling the Central area.
This decision to close the downtown office has some business owners confused.
"At first glance you would think there would be other areas you might close down rather than downtown," Explains Jane Strauser. "That might be the last one I close down."
Strauser, the manager of Wilson Antiques is pleased with how police presence has been downtown so far. She is worried the closure will affect response time.
Strauser says "Wilson Antiques has three bars next door. We have frequent problems both in the alley next to us and in front of the store. We've actually had a couple of instances where we've had fights start in the bar and end up going through our front window.”
Captain Morgan claims there won’t be a difference in response times for serious situation.
Captain Morgan says "for emergency calls we're gonna get there as prompt as we ever have. We're gonna get there and get there quick."
As for other sectors closing in the future, Captain Morgan says "they are very important but it depends on what happens in the future with man power and call load."
