A four-part series inspired by the work of Longmont Public Safety
Part 4: Twelve Strategies Police Departments Can Take to Transform Neighborhood Safety
📖 Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Key Ideas:
Safety grows through intentional, relationship-based practices.
Twelve strategies show what policing can do in partnership with neighborhoods.
The truest sign of success: when neighborhoods thrive without needing police intervention.
Series Intro:
This is Part 4 of Neighborhoods Becoming: Lessons in Safety, Trust, and Belonging. In earlier posts, we’ve looked at the cultural journey from belonging, to patience, to interdependence. Now we turn to the practical: what can police departments actually do to support this kind of transformation?
Policing often defaults to response — showing up when called, applying enforcement when needed. But in Longmont, safety grew not from response alone, but from a set of intentional, relationship-based strategies. These were not “programs” or “quick fixes.” They were practices that required patience, adaptability, and humility.
Here are twelve strategies police departments can and need to take if they want to help neighborhoods move from dependency toward interdependence:
Convene neighbors often. Bring people together in ways that spark dialogue, trust, and shared vision.
Have conversations about gifts and capacity. Ask residents about their skills, time, and hopes — not just their complaints.
Commit to see the project through. Promise continuity so neighbors know they are not alone in the work.
Nurture individuals. Invest time in keeping emerging leaders engaged and encouraged.
Cultivate new helpers. Teach and mentor people who can take on supportive roles within the neighborhood.
Connect to resources. Provide referrals to housing, mental health, addiction services, lighting improvements, or grant opportunities.
Build relationships within the neighborhood. Prioritize trust between neighbors as much as between neighbors and police.
Offer precise enforcement when requested. Step in when the community asks — not with a heavy hand, but with fairness and care.
Step into roles outside enforcement. Serve as coaches, mentors, or role models, especially for youth.
Join community life. Attend barbecues, birthday parties, or neighborhood meetings to deepen authentic connection.
Invite neighbors to help others. Encourage one community to support another, building a web of interdependence.
Pitch in with hands-on projects. Assist with painting, remodeling, or cleanup efforts, sometimes alongside residents from other neighborhoods.
And when the time is right, pull away. This may be the hardest step — letting go so neighborhoods can stand on their own. But it is the truest sign of success: when police are no longer needed to convene, enforce, or encourage, because the community has discovered its own abundance.
The lesson from Longmont is clear: policing rooted in relationships creates lasting safety. These twelve strategies remind us that public safety isn’t simply delivered; it’s cultivated. And when officers step into the roles of conveners, encouragers, and connectors, they help awaken what has been there all along: neighbors becoming a community.
This blog is part of “Neighborhoods Becoming: Lessons in Safety, Trust, and Belonging,” a four-part series inspired by the work of Longmont Public Safety. Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3