CHESTER, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Police in the city of Chester have made a big change to the way the department interacts with the public since a September KYW Newsradio report revealed residents’ concerns about the police station’s doors being locked.
Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland said protocols originating with the COVID-19 pandemic combined with a staff shortage led the department to keep their doors locked and to require residents to speak to officers remotely through an intercom before they could gain entry or be seen.
Chester resident and businessman David Nelson, who spoke to KYW in September, said he hasn’t had to use it, but he saw firsthand the problem it created.
“Someone was being threatened. And they needed direct access. And that was a safe haven they were looking to get into, and they couldn’t get in,” Nelson said.
Kirkland says that policy has changed, and the police commissioner has freed up some personnel — “now we have to take some of our folks out of some of the office areas and also take some people off the streets” — to keep an officer in the lobby and keep their doors open.
“It's a good feeling, knowing that people can have an easier access to our law enforcement and be able to share some concerns or seek help,” the mayor said.
This is a move Nelson says is a step in the right direction.
“Having the access, having the police station being open for public access, for the officers being able to come down and people take the reports — it makes people feel like there’s an attentiveness to their needs, and it’s not just a pass-by — that we’ll take your report or whatever.”
Chester resident Clinton Johnson said it’s good news, knowing that he or others will no longer need to speak through an intercom, while standing in the rain or waiting in a dangerous situation, just to see an officer.
“It’s more convenient because you won’t be wasting your time going down there. Now you can get in. You ain’t got to bam on the door, push the button or none of that. The door is open. I’m telling everyone today. Come on down.
Nelson and Johnson both say they believe opening the doors to the police station goes a long way toward boosting residents' attitudes and mending relations with the police.