New Bolivar Police Chief’s Plan to Cut Crime
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With news of the termination of Bolivar Police Chief Bill Irons, Bolivar Mayor Barrett Stevens hopes Interim Chief Pat Baker can help curb crime in the city. “The mayor called a meeting to discuss citizen complaints. We met with supervisors of every shift,” said Interim Chief Pat Baker of Bolivar Police Department. Interim Chief Baker said the plan is to manipulate the schedule, overlapping shifts, to provide a greater police presence in neighborhoods. “Presence is a crime fighting tool. You need to be seen in the area, plus the citizens when they see the officers in the area and they get to know the officers, when they have information they want to share information,” he added. Residents of east Bolivar said although the response time is great, they would like to see more of a police presence. “I see different people walking around the neighborhood, people that are not familiar to me,” said east Bolivar resident, Mauriceo Beauregard. Friends and family of Beauregard’s said he is know as the ‘neighborhood watch.’ “A lot of time they’re scared. They don’t want to be subpoenaed to court. They don’t want the repercussions for cooperating with police,” said Interim Chief Baker. Baker said he and Mayor Stevens both have ‘open door’ policies and welcome concerns of the public.
