Manchester police say they will soon deploy a new tactic to improve the safety at one of the state’s biggest shopping areas.
They plan to expand their community policing program to the Buckland retail area.
Current officers will be assigned to the Buckland area during peak times, and will further ramp up their presence if the department starts seeing increased crime.
Police say nearly half the larcenies in the town take place in the Buckland area.
The assigned officers will be more proactive than reactive. Instead of going from call to call, the officers will monitor activity in the shopping area and work on building relationships.
It's an effort to cut down on shoplifting and thefts from cars.
“I think more police presence is always better especially in larger geographical areas where there are cities and lots of people and lots of cars and I’m totally in support of it,” said Hebron resident Holly Brothers.
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Police say they can cut down crime in the area by just moving around current officers within the department.
