Our Public Safety Committee and citizens from all corners of the city met on July 28th at Southwest Improvement Council (SWIC) for another very successful meeting.

Our concentration for the meeting was on DPD Dist. 4 issues. Commander Bill Nagle welcomed us to his district and spoke about concerns and progress in the area. He then introduced us to the new Dist. 4 leader, Commander Mark Fleecs. Commander Fleecs has joined the district after leading the GRID investigative support division. After already spending 24 years with DPD, he said he was excited to get back to leadership of patrol units.

We learned that the gang problems in west Denver are continuing. DPD has implemented a new strategy to address the proliferation of gang activity, including offering gang members alternative options to this lifestyle. The goal is to reduce violent crime.

Dist. 4 also has a problem with cruisers and racers, especially on Federal Blvd. PDP is using two license plate readers (LPR) to identify the offenders. Officers have been successful in identifying more of the cruisers and will focus on catching repeat offenders.

Our first guest speaker for this meeting was Pastor Dang who spoke on the Vietnamese community, the positive influence that they have in the area, their upcoming festivals, the progress they have made working with Councilman Lopez, and their youth programs.

Following Paster Dang, Steve Chester, Senior City Planner joined us and discussed the new Westwood Neighborhood Plan. He also encouraged attendees to complete a survey to help his office in addressing issues in the area.

Next our committee program will be on August 25th when we will be traveling to DPD Dist. 5 to learn about their district, what concerns they are dealing with, and what positive strides they are making. As always, we encourage everyone to join us to learn what is happening in our city. Our meetings are open to everyone! More information will be posted on the www.denverinc.org website.