The Springfield Police Department has a new tool in its fight against crime – cops without guns. They were once known as traffic wardens but have been redubbed “community service officers” and given an expanded job description.
The idea is to free up armed, sworn officers to handle more serious offenses by assigning less dangerous assignments to uniformed civilian employees.
“The addition of community service officers to our department reflects our ongoing efforts to adapt and meet the needs of our residents,” Police Chief Ken Scarlette said in a prepared statement. “Their work will undoubtedly enhance our ability to ensure public safety and improve response times for all.”
SPD Commander Ryan Leach told Illinois Times that the CSOs will be used to collect information on matters such as private property accidents, fly dumping and illegally parked vehicles.
“If suspect information is gathered, then (sworn) officers will respond to assist with the follow-up,” he said.
Initially, there will be three community service officers serving Springfield, Leach added.
While the CSOs will serve the entire city, they will be particularly beneficial in the city’s older neighborhoods, which often have ordinance violations such as fly dumping, said Chris Richmond, president of Moving Pillsbury Forward.
“I think it will be very beneficial,” he said. “I’ve been working with the Pillsbury Neighborhood Association for five years on fly dumping and alley access issues and tree trimming. These are all very common in the older neighborhoods where you’ve got alleys and overhead power lines, as opposed to the west side of town that typically has buried power lines and no alleys.”
During his time leading the efforts to redevelop the former Pillsbury Mills site, he has dealt with many representatives of the city.
“In the last 18 months, I’ve interacted with 40 different police officers,” he said. “I report fly dumping … I have a lot of trespassers at Pillsbury too, and I’ve had to call police in regard to that quite often.”
He said he welcomes the idea of having a designated unit to deal with ordinance violations.
Polly Poskin, president of the Harvard Park Neighborhood Association, said a citation from a community service officer may more readily capture the attention of ordinance scofflaws than receiving a letter from another municipal department.
“I have claimed in the past that if notification to the owner of a property came from the police department, it might come with a little bit more weight of enforcement,” she said. “From a neighborhood association and a neighbor who has to live with all this external rubbish and trash and bulky items, this could potentially be more effective.”
Scott Reeder, a staff writer with Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.
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