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The new unit appears to address two sides of the policing debate: the demand for more community services - something the Defund the Police movement has championed - without cutting funding for police - which is something the Back the Blue campaign has promoted.
On Monday, Nov. 9, the new Community Impact Unit of the Wallingford Police was announced.
The goal of the unit is to free up patrol officers from responding to less-intense policing issues, thereby allowing patrol officers to tackle more serious crimes.
The unit is expected to deliver “high-level problem resolution to a wide variety of community-related issues that need immediate direct impact to resolve the issue,” said Wallingford Police Chief William J. Wright in a letter to the community.
Examples of the kind of issues the Community Impact Unit would respond to include:
- Walk and talk with businesses, clergy, and residents
- Blight,
- Unregistered cars on public and private property,
- Continuing noise complaints,
- Narcotics,
- Quality of life issues,
- Parking enforcement,
- Thefts from vehicles.
The community service unit is being launched during a time of growing concern over policing in America. Wallingford is among the vanguard police departments responding with concrete change.
Staffing on the unit will take place soon, the chief said. Unit officers will be in plain clothes or uniforms depending on the situation.
“The police department is excited to offer this new level of service to our community,” Chief Wright said. “We see the need for a unit that can respond directly to issues that pertain to improving the quality of life in our community.”
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