The philosophy of COP rests on the belief that the law-abiding citizens in the community have the responsibility to participate in the police process, in exchange for their support. It also rests on the belief that solutions to today's contemporary community problems demand freeing both community residents and law enforcement to explore creative ways to address neighborhood concerns beyond the narrow focus of individual crime incidents. Enhance quality of living conditions Involve citizens to help identify problem areas and to better the conditions of their communities, i.e., Health, Social, Zoning, etc., to assist in providing a safer and healthier living environment. The implementation of community policing was started April 1998 and is solely funded by Washington Township, which contracts with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office for police services. Based upon the requested calls for service, citizen contacts and the actual reported criminal incidents, this area was best determined to be served by the initial community policing initiative.
Future plans involve expansion of community policing to other areas of Washington Township.
Deputy Scott Chapman.