Wausau Police Department in the Process of Implementing the City's First COP House

Thursday, November 3rd, 2022 -- 10:00 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The Wausau Police Department is in the process of implementing the city's first COP House- or Community Oriented Policing house.

Lieutenant Jacob Chittum says it's a new approach that looks to stop problems before they begin by offering community services in a selected neighborhood. "Essentially it's an all encompasing community house that we can utilitze in a number of different ways."

He says they've selected the Hawthorne Hills district, where statistics show a high volume of police calls and lower grades for students. "Cities that have done this in the past have seen their academic performance increase, they've seen their projected graduation rates increase, and, biggest of all too is, the calls for service have dramatically decreased."

He says this approach has been taken in other Wisconsin cities, where it's been successful. "One house in Mt. Pleasent had a bonfire for the children in the neighborhood, some of which had never had a smore in their entire lives. So, they saw a need and a way to connect with the children."

He says the goal is to find new ways to help the community. "Having that goal in mind of community oriented police being successful and making this neighborhood a better place to live. Also, holding some kind of after school activities for children that could be partnering with other organizations in the city that might make it easier for them to be with clients for those clients that can't travel to them."

He says they don't want residents to think the officers will be putting them under a microscope by "Moving in" to the neighborhood. "So, this isn't a tactic to take enforcement action on every little thing that we see. It's all about out reach and connectiong with the community."

Chittum says the department has an agreement with the city to take over some land to build the COP House, but at this time there's no timeline for when the project will be completed. He adds that if any community service group wants to collaborate with officers in the area, they should reach out to the department.

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