Crime watch and regular police patrols are available to all who want to discourage lawbreakers. But some neighborhood residents say they need additional tools to defeat crime.
That’s why many communities that can afford such services hire – with the sanction of the City – off-duty police who patrol neighborhoods in Dallas police cars.
Residents in neighborhoods such as Swiss Avenue, Greenland Hills and Junius Heights pay $25 an hour per officer, with an additional $4.44 per hour for the patrol car. Police typically work four-hour shifts, often on weekends.
But citizens who can’t afford extra police patrols complain that the practice only accents their poverty. Other neighborhoods, such as Vickery Place in East Dallas, have declined to hire off-duty police as a matter of principle.
“I don’t want these guys,” says Pam Stephenson, co-chair of Vickery Place Crime Watch. “We’re not using our regular police officers the way we can, so why go ‘Rent-A-Cop’?”
As members of Crime Watch, Stephenson says, “we’re not interested in being vigilantes, but police can use as as another kind of force. We’ll be damned if we’re going to hire off-duty police if we can make the system work the way it’s supposed to.”
But Craig McDaniel of Junius Heights Crime Watch says off-duty patrols are good for everyone.
“I used to have those same concerns. It didn’t seem right that we paid for police officers. We can afford it, but what about the poor neighborhood across the street?” he says.
“And because we’re paying for the police department through our taxes, why pay more for additional patrols?
“But now, I am a big fan of off-duty police patrols. The neighborhoods that can’t afford it are benefiting from those that I can.
“We have a dedicated (off-duty) officer in Junius Heights,” McDaniel says. “When someone makes a call in our neighborhood, our officer will take care of the problem. Regular officers don’t have to come and answer that call. Conceivably, they can answer a call in another neighborhood, or devote more patrol time elsewhere.
“We’d like to see the need for this program to go away,” he says. “But the reality is we do have to hire off-duty patrols if we want this level of police protection.”
