There are changes in Hartford as to how the police department approaches communities and their policing.
As of last week, officers are back walking the beat across the city, and Thursday, city officials joined them on that beat.
“Make sure you are drinking that water, okay?” Officer Abriana Diana said to an individual along Albany Avenue as the temperatures climbed on Thursday.
She is excited to be out in Hartford on her new beat.
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“You engage in so much more rather than just call to call,” Diana said.
She is one of a team of two on the beat along Albany Avenue, and one of five in the city.
“Right now, there is a big gap between policing and the community. This is a start -- I mean we are working on it, we are working forward,” said Diana.
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The beat is part of a new initiative in Hartford to bring back community policing. Twenty officers in total will be involved in the revamp.
“The community -- that’s what’s important here. He has heard, I have heard through meetings, constantly, they want walking beats,” said Hartford’s interim police chief, Kenny Howell.
Goals include increasing safety, but most important to officers, is building trust and relationships with the communities they serve.
"I think it's very good we are invested in this area,” said Precious Ross, who has lived along Irving Street by Albany Avenue for 40 years.
She was one of several residents in the area calling for beat cops to come back. She is thrilled to see, with the assistance of Pastor AJ Johnson, the city made the decision to bring them back.
“We have the cops’ numbers, so we can just call them if we have issues, it’s a win win,” said Ross.
But the leader of the self-defense brigade in Hartford, Cornell Lewis, is one who remains skeptical of the effectiveness of the new beats. He said the department's short staffing would limit their ability to be make a lasting impact in community policing.
But according to the officers on foot, if the first week has been any indication, they believe they will be around for thousands more steps.
“They love it, they love us so far, so far they love us," Officer Diana said.
There will also be beat officers in the South End and downtown.
