Whereas households are making ready for a fun-filled weekend, police and hearth departments are gearing up for Halloween mischief.
An area police chief stated he isn’t counting on volunteers this 12 months. As a substitute, he hopes a brand new software will greater than make up for his or her absence.
“We hope for the very best, however anticipating the worst,” Flint Police Chief Terence Inexperienced stated. “A whole lot of felony exercise in the best way of setting home fires, issues of that nature. We’re all the time planning for gun violence.”
Inexperienced stated they’re ramping up patrols in a significant manner, however with out the assistance of volunteers.
“Because of the uptick of COVID-19 and the Delta variant, we actually have not relied on our volunteers as a lot because of the pandemic, so we’re principally doing it with our officers,” he stated. “We’ve got volunteers for our mini stations, however we’re just about dedicating all of our assets to bringing out additional patrols.”
Inexperienced stated he plans to have 12 additional patrols out, watching the streets from the bottom.
This 12 months, they’ll have eyes within the sky too, with the assistance of a brand new helicopter.
“A part of our technique is to have that up Saturday,” Inexperienced stated. “Proper now, we’re anticipating that offering again as much as the officers on the bottom.”
The helicopter has been a very long time coming. Metropolis council first accepted the funding for it in July.
“It is a reduction,” Inexperienced stated. “It is simply one other piece of kit, a significant piece of kit that is going to assist us battle and battle crime.”
Inexperienced hopes the additional patrols, coupled with the helicopter, will make for a crime-free weekend.
“To know that there’s an aviation unit above, and our final aim with this helicopter is to discourage crime, make these bear in mind that we’re utilizing all our assets as a way to assist maintain the general public secure,” he stated.
