Civilian Patrol: 'Neighborhood Is Not Going To Tolerate Deviant Behavior'

DETROIT (WWJ) - Folks in southwest Detroit taking aim at crime -- cutting the ribbon on a brand new security hub.

The storefront on Vernor at Lawndale will be the headquarters for the neighbor's civilian patrol.

Officer Thomas Denmark says that the hub will allow members to share information with local police, school police -- even the FBI.

"They'll get all the resources they need to help them be on the lookout for certain things - we're going to provide them with crime stats and things of that nature (like) 'wanted' posters," says Denmark. "Kind of a chip off the old police station model."

Nicki Parto is with the Congress of Committees group which is housing the headquarters.

"This area has a high population of undocumented citizens -- so some people might feel that they are intimidated going into Detroit police department - so they can always come here and it's more intimate," says Parto.

While it's not a center for filing official police reports Parto says that community members can come in here to make miscellaneous complaints -- "we've created a form that they can fill out and they can report things like abandoned vehicles, blight - even suspicious narcotics activity."

Crime Stoppers' Dan DiBardino says "what this hub does more than anything else -- is it clearly indicates that the neighborhood is not going to tolerate deviant behavior. They are going to do something about it - they are going to be aggressive."