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LPD looks to community for help with crime prevention

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – The Lafayette Police Department is working to prevent crime by connecting with the community.

Nearly 70 people showed up to an outreach forum Tuesday evening.

“I want to be involved, I’ve always wanted to be involved,” said resident Diane Kafka.

Kafka is new to the Lafayette area. That’s why she’s involved with the citizens academy through the Lafayette Police Department and on Nextdoor.

“I’ve been here since July. I want to get active because I’ve not been active,” said Kafka.

Police are encouraging residents like Kafka to get more active. An outreach forum was hosted by LPD Tuesday evening. The discussion focused on community engagement and crime prevention.

“I wanted to engage the community and what the police department is doing to try and diminish violent crimes, diminish drugs, diminish the kinds of things they are seeing in their neighborhoods that are affecting their quality of life,” said Sgt. Scott Galloway.

Galloway went over some of the initiatives rolled out by the department last year. Some of those include adding more take-home cars to the fleet, hiring a new dispatcher for the Drug Task Force and assigning more officers to Crime Prevention and Outreach.

When asked what crimes LPD sees the most, the answer came easy.

“Theft is the biggest crime. It’s the most damaging crime as far as the resources go for the police department, obviously businesses. So, theft is the crime that has the most statistical significance to it,” said Galloway.

Residents in attendance are hoping crimes like theft can go down with the help of the community.

“If it takes a village, great. If it’s one person, more power to them. But it’s really hard to be one person,” said Kafka.

Sgt. Galloway said he plans to host more outreach forums and make it to neighborhood meetings. He encourages residents to sign up for Nextdoor and use social media to stay informed.