2 minute read

Commander Fleecs - The Real Story

Why did you decide to be a police officer?

Commander Fleecs grew up in rural Nebraska on a farm He explained that as he was going through his first years of college, he had a professor who was a former police officer in Denver, that helped him develop an interest in law enforcement He really decided to become a police officer to help people during times of crisis

Advertisement

While he had many options, Denver was one of his top choices He decided on Denver because of the close proximity to his hometown and family

2. What is your overall goal of being a commander?

Commander Fleecs has been the Commander of Police District 4 in Southwest Denver for the past five years He has worked in various offices and many different sections of the force, such as investigations, the narcotics department, and many others before finding his place as a commander Lastly, when getting to the heart of the question he responded that although his words would likely be the same as many other officers, he wanted to improve safety and make Denver a nicer place

3. We understand that you are working with a grant to support Westwood. Can you explain more about this grant?

In 2019, the Denver Police Department was awarded $1M dollars to implementtheWestwoodCommunityBasedCrimeReductionGrant The grant is slated to last for 36-months and will focus on positive police community relations, collaborate community engagement, public health, safety and crime prevention, education and career opportunities for residentsandpositiveyouthinteractions

Recognizingthatcrimereductionismorethanjustincreasedenforcement, the CBCR grant provides funding for community partners and facilitates collaboration between law enforcement and the community to improve thequalityoflifeforWestwoodresidents

Insteadofthepolicedepartmentdoingthisourselves,wewanttosustain our work through our partnerships with true collaboration Our partners includethefollowingagencies;BoysandGirlsClubofMetroDenver,BuCu West,DenverHealthPenaClinic,DreamCenter,DenverHousingAuthority, The Denver Indian Center, Denver Streets Partnership, GRID, Mi Casa Resource Center, OMNI, Southwest Denver Coalition, and Westwood Unidos We encourage and invite any and all residents to join in this partnership

4. How does the grant goals shift now based on the recent protests and recent events?

For Commander Fleecs his goals for the Westwood Crime Reduction Program have not changed at all He is still focused on ways to increase community outreach and enhance police-community relationships to build more trust in police He sees community participation in crime prevention and having strong community-based partnerships as a key to crime reduction On the other hand, gun violence has risen about 50% This shows how The trust between the police and community has decreased but since there are already strong relationships with the community partnerships and within the community, it has not been hard being able to establish even stronger connections

5. What advice do you give to southwest youth?

"Beagoodperson"

"Dovolunteerwork"

"Beengagedinthecommunity"

"Don'tbeafraidtospeakyourmind"

"Listentodifferentperspectives"

B. Advice for youth that are in trouble

"Look for resources, get help"

"Understand the consequences of crime"

"Seek mentors"

"Find positive people and relationships"

Data from Denver Police Department 2019

When you compare the crime rate with the 6 neighborhoods that border Westwood, you become approximately 170% more likely to be a victim of a violent crime just by walking into the Westwood neighborhood

If you are a resident, please take the community survey

Spanish: Encuesta Comunitaria de Westwood

English: Westwood Community Survey

Vietnamese: Khảo sát cộng đồng Westwood

Written By Sayuri Toribio , Noemi Enriquez, Pablo Torre- Walter Graphics by: Sayuri Toribio

This article is from: