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The Noblesville Police Department is looking forward to once again engaging with the residents of Noblesville. After a year filled with few events, the department is ramping up for a summer filled with events and services to connect with the community.
“We’re hopeful this year we can return to doing and providing all the services we haven’t been able to last year with COVID,” says Brad Arnold, assistant chief of police for the City of Noblesville Police Department. “A lot of those things are ways we interact with the community. When we were shut down, that hindered us from staying as connected as we wanted to be with the community. One of our priorities this year is being able to reconnect at a more personal level again with the residents of Noblesville.”
One way the department gets in front of citizens is by attending homeowner association (HOA) meetings.
“All of our officers are assigned a certain area within the city,” Arnold says. “Each day an officer may patrol a certain district, but overall there’s a certain section of the city that one or two officers are specifically assigned to, and those are done in such a way where they can have more personal relationships with those HOAs, subdivisions and residents. They can create more of a personal connection with the police department.”
The officers provide safety and security for local events.
“We will be providing security at the July 4th parade, but we’ll also be there to interact with the public,” Arnold says. “The 4-H fair will be here before we know it, and we’ll have a booth there as well.”
The bike and boat patrol will be out on local trails and Morse Reservoir.
“We always have the bike and boat patrol out every summer,” Arnold says. “We weren’t able to do much last year as most people were staying in, but this year we will be out on the water during the weekends and peak times. Here in Noblesville, we’re so proud of the growing miles of trails we have. We’ll have officers on bikes on those trailways.”
Interns are utilized so young adults can learn about the department and its officers. Adults can participate in the Citizens Academy.
“Interns go through the different aspects of the department at a more thorough level,” Arnold says. “It gives them a complete understanding of how our department works. With the Citizens Academy, residents learn about a different topic each week. They can ask a lot of great questions. When they graduate, they become part of our alumni.”
Arnold says the department is planning a business-to-business crime watch.
“When crimes happen, there is a lot of information sharing,” Arnold says. “Businesses will be able to alert each other to criminal activity in the area.”
Due to several retirements, the department is actively hiring new officers.
“We’ve had quite a few officers who are reaching retirement age, so we have some vacancies to fill,” Arnold says. “We’re taking applications for recruits.”
For more information, visit cityofnoblesville.org.
