Police Chief Holds CommUNITY Walk to Bring Citizens and Officers Together

The Chief of Police has been holding twice a month community walks in neighborhoods across Chattanooga to foster communication and relationships between the police officers and the citizens they serve.

"It’s those relationships that keep everybody safe and help everybody feel safe," said Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher.

Fletcher began these walks months ago with the intention of making the police department approachable to the citizens.

"There are many people who can’t come to events or don’t hear about events so we’re not content to rest on that," said Fletcher. "So we bring events to the community to make sure we hear from everybody that needs to be heard from, that they get to meet their police department and they get to tell us what they need from us."

Monday’s event began at the 5800 block of Taladega Drive in the Shepherd Community of Chattanooga.

The mayor, dozens of citizens and the new Chattanooga fire chief were among the crowd.

Chris Adams, the new fire chief, talked about why relationships between officials and the community are important.

"Everybody out here is talking about relationships," said Adams. "That’s what it’s all about. Then it’s going to get safer and safer and people are going to trust each other and if they see something that’s a hazard, they’ll notify the proper authorities and get that taken care of and that comes with trust."

The police chief realizes officials like him don’t always see what’s going on in the neighborhoods but these events help take care of that.

"My absolute favorite part of these events is getting to meet people that I might otherwise not meet and hear about what they need from their police department," said Fletcher

"Everybody feeling a bond with the police side and the fire side and that’s what it’s all about," said Adams "It’s trust. We’re building trust. That’s what everyone talks about, building trust. And putting a name to a face and actually having a relationship."