MURRAY — Some Murray residents with startled and curious faces opened their front doors to Murray police officers recently. Most of them probably were thinking that if the police were knocking, then bad news had come to call.
"I didn't do it, and I don't know who did," one man joked through his screen door.
But the nervous expressions quickly melted into smiles as officer explained the purpose of the visit was to let residents know police are on the job not just in an emergency. Community policing officers passed out flyers with pertinent names and phone numbers of officers and city officials such as the mayor, city attorney and the dog catcher, along with a biography of their specific neighborhood officer.
"It's a much more personal touch," Murray police detective Rob Hall said. "Not every problem is a 911 problem. We want (residents) to know we are here to help them, and we want to meet with residents and business owners face to face."
Like many Salt Lake Valley cities, Murray has divided its territory into four quadrants and assigned specific community and patrol officers to each area. The idea is to develop a relationship with neighborhoods that leads not only to crime tips and arrests but also to solutions to minor neighborhood problems before they explode into major incidents.
The assignment is a role change for officers such as Devin Higgins, who said he feels like he's learning a whole new job, one in which he wears a smile on his face more often and where the approach is more old-fashioned.
"In most cases, an officer is the confronter; you're always the heavy," he said. "This is more like going back to the roots of the job. We can't really walk a beat, but we're back in the neighborhood. We lost sight of that in the '70s and the '80s."
Residents were surprised by the visit from police, but said they liked the idea of having someone specific to call with concerns.
"I didn't realize there is someone assigned right here," one woman said. "I think it's a good idea, and I like having the right list of numbers to call."
Most said they like the idea of cultivating a relationship with an officer and appreciate knowing that if they need police assistance on more than one occasion, they won't have to talk to a new person every time.
Getting the neighborhood officer program going by making door-to-door calls has so far proved time-consuming, but officers said they liked the interaction with residents. Some residents had questions about a wave of recent car burglaries, others about safety on the Murray Parkway recreation paths or about Neighborhood Watch programs.
"I like getting out and just talking to the people. They are who we are doing (the job) for," said Rick Dukatz, the officer assigned to the southeastern city quadrant. "For the most part, people don't ever call us until they need us. Maybe this will get the community involved and educated and we can take care of some things before they become big problems."
You can reach Jennifer Dobner by e-mail at dobner@desnews.com