Feb 21, 2014 3 min read

A town hall meeting will be assembled at Washington City Hall to gather feedback from residents and community organizations on how to make the city a safer place to live.

Organizers of the meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday hope it will help strengthen the relationship among city leaders, police officers and residents as they work to build trust.

“It’s an opportunity to build our neighborhood watch programs and (connect) individuals with organizations that are out there to build off of,” Washington Mayor Brenda Davis said.

Several community groups, including the local NAACP chapter and the Highland Ridge Community Development Corp., will help lead the discussion with their members.

Fred Fleet, president of the Highland Ridge group, said this is just another step in improving community relations. He pointed to their partnership with city officials in the annual “March Against Violence” that began in the wake of the slaying of Washington & Jefferson College running back Timothy McNerney in October 2012.

“Having a kickoff with the group at a town hall is really opening it up to listen to the community,” Fleet said. “It’s not to predict what (residents) need, but let them come to city hall and tell the mayor, the police chief and everyone else there what they need.”

He said their group and other organizations are making progress and pointed to a closer working relationship with city leaders and the Washington County district attorney’s office as the major reason for the change. He hopes that interest from officials and residents will continue to grow.

“We have seen more police reaction to problems, and we want to keep doing that,” Fleet said. “The outcome for the residents is to keep stretching further and further into our community and reaching out to people who haven’t met with the mayor or police chief. We’re branching out to bring in more people.”

Davis said the city and its police department need the community’s help to target crime-ridden areas and implement improvements.

Fleet added police are trying to work with residents who keep an eye on their neighborhoods and report problems.

“It’s about getting the community and officers together,” Fleet said. “We’re not the enemy. We need to get that momentum going and have more and more people come and participate.”

The town hall will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Washington City Hall, 55 W. Maiden St. All residents and community organizations from Washington and neighboring towns are invited. More information is available by calling the city at 724-223-4200.