Community policing has been defined as a collaborative effort between the police and the community that identifies problems of crime and enhances the quality of life in the community. It accomplishes these goals by combining efforts of the police, local government and community members.

Many policing concepts in recent years have tended to isolate officers from the community they serve which can hamper crime control efforts. Police are charged with the responsibility of crime prevention, are mandated with ‘solving’ the crime problem, the drug problem, the DUI problem, the domestic violence problem and so on. Those are predominately REACTIVE concepts. Community policing allows law enforcement to get back to the principles upon which policing was founded; to integrate itself, once again, into the fabric of the community so the people come to police for counsel and help before a serious problem arises. This allows police to provide PROACTIVE solutions rather than to be solely reactive.

For any community policing program to be beneficial there must be a long-term commitment from everyone involved. Our goal is to form lasting partnerships between community members and the police department. With a combined effort we can work towards eradicating the underlying cause of crime.

Crime is increasingly getting more abundant and more violent. The Simpsonville Police Department recognizes the value of bringing the people back into the policing process. We encourage the community to express their concerns over crime related or quality of life issues. We will work with the community to provide problem-solving activities.

While we have assigned specific officers to the community policing division it is the intent of this Department to employ the community policing philosophy department wide. Please join us in our efforts to make Simpsonville a more safe and enjoyable community.