One of the many programs initiated by law enforcement agencies on behalf of citizens, raising the bar for more robust community relations, is called the Front Porch Roll Call (FRPC). Fairly new, this concept brings the police tradition’s inner sanctum of reviewing crime trends and mitigation efforts directly to residents in various communities in the overall jurisdiction.
The Tampa Police Department has realized great success with its Front Porch Roll Call sessions. Convening in different communities in their city, Tampa cops schedule these gatherings with a community coordinator (often a Crime Watch captain or designee) and start the ball rolling for a squad of officers to attend and interact with participants, emblematic of the agency’s oft-publicized hashtag #YourTampaPD.
And this is what that looks like:
(Photo courtesy of the Tampa Police Department.)
A Tampa PD spokesperson said on June 6, 2023: “It certainly was a beautiful day in the neighborhood when our District 3 officers joined the Ridgewood Heights Neighborhood Watch for last night’s Front Porch Roll Call!”
Anyone representing a formal Crime Watch chapter, or a spokesperson for a group of neighbors wishing to meet with their cops and chat up matters of interest to all attendees, can contact Tampa Police administration via a link tree (menu of choices offered by the police), choosing the Front Porch Roll Call tab and filling out the Community Outreach Request.
I’ve been seeing more of these FPRCs being held in Tampa’s myriad communities, portraying tons of smiling faces captioned by words attesting to alliances formed to quash criminal elements, educate the public about the latest strategies, and generally learn about each other, all serving as co-dependents in safeguarding properties and enhancing quality-of-life principles.
As Tampa PD bulletins put it: “Meet. Learn. Interact…With the Officers Who Patrol Your Neighborhood.”
Incidentally, the half-hour scheduled allotment usually runs over because this concept is a tremendous hit with folks.
Although it wasn’t referred to as Front Porch Roll Call, my agency’s Crime Prevention Unit routinely attended every Crime Watch group’s meetings, usually held in the subdivision clubhouse or someone’s home. The general goal was for cops and residents to mingle, get to know one another, and discuss all-things-public-safety.
I enjoyed attending these meetings when my squad was working the streets; the benefits entailed hearing citizen concerns and observations (co-reliant), sharing how police resources could mitigate matters, and homemade cookies catered by a participant. (Squads need snacks during 12-hour shifts.)
The Columbia Police Department in South Carolina recently held another one of their Front Porch Roll Call gatherings.
(Photo courtesy of the Columbia Police Department.)
“Always time for family during #ColumbiaPDSC Front Porch Roll Call. This one is in the Village Pond Community,” said a Columbia PD press release.
A Columbia public safety spokesperson described their FPRC program as “designed to help neighbors get to know more than just an officer’s name. The face-to-face informal gatherings are typically hosted at a Columbia citizen’s home. Officers discuss crime trends, safety tips, arrest info, and even have officer recognitions.”
Similar to Tampa PD’s FPRC scheduling method, Columbia residents can visit the police department’s main website, click the Programs tab, scroll down to Front Porch Roll Call, and fill out a simple form.
On the Columbia Police FPRC request are a few brief descriptors of what the program entails:
“The Front Porch Roll Call program was developed to support the department’s community policing initiative. It consists of hosting a police squad’s pre-shift roll call at a home in the neighborhood or area patrolled by that [assigned] squad and shift.
“The goal of a Front Porch Roll Call is to build better relationships between officers and the community. These meetings give officers an opportunity to build relationships, impact changes when necessary, and develop trust within the community by simply having an open conversation.”
Having an open conversation. How mature that sounds. How crucial it has always been. Yet not every police jurisdiction can engage in such a human concept, not with the anti-police barkers brazenly and disrespectfully getting in the faces of cops and taunting to significant degrees.
I watched another protest scenario in New York City last week, gritting my teeth when a man walked up to NYPD officers holding the line and blowing smoke in his face. Absurd bravado. Disgusting behavior!
To read the words “open conversation” is a gleam in the public space which needs contagion.
Circling back to Columbia PD’s Front Porch Roll Call, the squads authentically demonstrate how Police HQ roll calls go, including uniform inspections by a watch commander, and the citizens get to observe that dynamic of policing and professionalism:
“Supervisors inspect uniforms and equipment before giving out patrol assignments and answering any last-minute questions prior to [the] start of their shift.”
(Photo courtesy of the New Orleans Police Department.)
That raises another facet of these Front Porch Roll Call venues: residents convey their observations and police assignments can be adjusted right then and there, immediate responses fashioned to combat what citizens are reporting to zone officers. That, added to the intelligence already gathered by police officers and crime analysts, underscores the imperative nature of having these community engagements and the dividends that evolve from each one.