The Waterbury Police Department has taken a new step to crack down on crime.
A mobile police station has been added to the Willow Plaza section of the city after dozens of residents there begged the mayor to help the crime plagued neighborhood.
“It’s not safe out here,” said Arletha Riddick, one of dozens who wanted this change. “I’m scared to go to the corner store; I'm scared for my grandkids to go
outside.”
The new mobile police station has been set up on Hillside and Willow Streets. Officers will be stationed in the truck mostly in the afternoon and night and the location will continually change.
The idea is that the new mobile station will help cops make more arrests and get to calls more quickly when reports of trouble come in.
“We need it 100%, we need it,” said Joan Cain.
People who live in Willow Plaza say this is critical.
There are dozens of abandoned homes in less than a three mile radius. They claimed the eyesores have attracted a dangerous element and the problems have only gotten worse.
“Drugs…fighting, all of that,” Arletha Riddick explained.
“Prostitutes are on the street, one night one was in front of my house,” Joan Cain added.
Police say the command post in the middle of the neighborhood could make criminals think twice about coming to the area. The goal is to restore the feeling of safety with the higher police visibility.
“It will make me feel safer and my kids and my grandkids,” Riddick said.
For now, this is just an experiment. If it curbs crime in this neighborhood, there might eventually be more police stations on wheels across the city.