The COPS Office is pleased to feature the Romeoville (Illinois) Police Department as a 2024 winner of the Community Policing in Action Photo Contest.

As can be seen in this month’s winning photograph, Commander Demetris Anderson of the Romeoville (Illinois) Police Department (RPD) understands the importance to young people of self-confidence and positive relations with strong role models.

For the high school senior who was fundraising for his football team at Romeoville’s August 2023 Opportunity Matters picnic, hearing that the commander shaking his hand was proud of him as a future leader may seem like a small thing—but it has a large impact, as do other adult interactions with young people.

Such is the philosophy of Opportunity Matters, a nonprofit devoted to helping individuals reach their full potential through mentorship, education, and other efforts—a mission aligned with that of the RPD, which emphasizes the importance of positive personal interactions, especially with young people whose character development and growth the department champions through a variety of programs.

A fundamental philosophy of the RPD is that crime can be prevented through collaboration with the communities it serves. To that end, the RPD works to build positive, personal relationships through its Community Oriented Policing (COP) Unit.

Young People Learn Important Life Skills

This involvement starts with the youngest residents of the town, who can benefit from a variety of RPD Community Policing programs—many of which are managed by RPD’s COP Unit. Among them is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) course that RPD’s D.A.R.E. Officers teach to fifth grade students in Romeoville schools. In these weekly classes, children of an impressionable age learn basic decision-making skills along with effective ways to deal with peer pressure, which can help them stay away from drugs.

Character building as well as basketball skills are the focus of the Romeoville Police Youth Athletic Club, which is a free youth mentoring summer program for children aged one to nine years old. Coached by the RPD’s school resource officers (SRO) and other officers, along with local high school basketball players, the program aims to teach the children six key character traits—(1) trustworthiness, (2) respect, (3) responsibility, (4) fairness, (5) caring, and (6) citizenship—while they have fun playing basketball and developing personal relationships with the officers in a safe, controlled, and drug-free environment.

Every spring, children aged 11 to 14 hang out with some of Romeoville’s finest while brushing up on their Nerf foam-ball toy gun skills through the RPD’s Nerf and Protect program. Participants, who were provided with equipment, eye protection, and other supplies, went through Nerf blaster safety training and a variety of battle modes on the battleground course. Held with support from the Village of Romeoville, the program was designed to offer a safe and friendly environment for developing teamwork and leadership skills.

Young people can also participate in the Citizens Police Academy, which offers classes on a variety of law enforcement topics, including criminal law, traffic stops, and enforcement, among others. Participants also get to know the members of the RPD and better understand how and why officers make the decisions they do.

Teenagers aged 15 to 18 who are interested in law enforcement as a career can attend the RPD’s Youth Police Academy, where they will learn police procedures and techniques in areas such as Patrol, Traffic Control, Investigative Procedures, and Defensive Tactics through classroom instruction, role playing, and practical exercises.

To develop relationships with younger children, RPD officers from all divisions volunteer to be guest readers for preschoolers at the library and elementary schools, as well as hold “stranger danger” talks with them.

Vulnerable Communities Get Needed Support

The RPD’s support is equally strong for its older community members, who can voice their concerns through monthly meetings of the Senior Advisory Council, which are attended by an RPD officer.

“We engage with our senior communities, whether it's keeping them in the loop about crime in the area, fraud presentations or just bringing some cheer into their lives during the holidays,” said Commander Anderson.

Individuals of any age who have special needs can get appropriate help in an emergency situation through the RPD’s free Resident Medical Program. At no cost to them, caregivers can register an individual with a medical, physical, cognitive, or other special need in the programs database, which RPD’s 911 dispatchers can access to notify officers responding to a call involving that person.

A similar program is the department’s confidential database containing the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and other contact information of persons whose caregivers have registered them. This information will allow RPD officers to reunite lost individuals with their families in a timely manner and prevent unnecessary lengthy detentions.

Another way the RPD supports the safety and well-being of Romeoville is through its counseling services, which are offered free of charge to residents. A licensed clinical social worker who is on staff full time is available to provide confidential family counselling and guidance related to issues such as domestic violence and drug abuse.

The local business community is another group the RPD reaches out to. Through its Meet and Greet program, officers get together with business owners, store managers, and others to discuss safety and security measures.

During Police National Night Out, all members of the community can see K-9 dog and Taser demos, tour the department, climb aboard rapid response vehicles, and chat with members of the Traffic Unit, Detectives Division, and Bicycle Unit, along with COP officers and other members of the RPD.

In discussing the RPD’s Community Policing programs, Commander Anderson said, “We encourage everyone in our department to find a way to engage with people of all ages and backgrounds, not just those in our COP Unit. It must be everybody’s goal to make a positive impact with individuals who live and work in Romeoville as well as the schools, businesses, and faith-based organizations. That means building trust by establishing authentic relationships, not just showing up for events.

“We stress the importance of this with new recruits in the hope that they will not only be good police officers but [also] even better human beings, individuals who treat all people with dignity and respect no matter what the circumstance.”

Faye C. Elkins
Sr. Technical Writer
COPS Office

Photos courtesy Romeoville (Illinois) Police Department.

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