College Park neighborhood discusses crime

Crime prevention starts with awareness and that’s exactly what was on tonight’s agenda for College Park residents.

Tonight Gulfport’s Ward Two Councilman Ron Roland hosted a community meeting alongside Gulfport police, allowing locals to speak out about their concerns. Petty crime, speeding, and harassing solicitors were among some of the resident’s main concerns.

Ward 2 Councilman Ron Roland says it is important to stay vigilant and protect yourself, your family, your neighbors, and your property. “Take the precautions that are necessary to protect your property. Leaving your car unlocked certainly doesn’t do it. You garage door being open, that doesn’t do it. We are not in control of what the criminals come by and do, but we are in control of what we can do to help prevent that.”

Although prevention was highly stressed during tonight’s meeting, Gulfport police says the primary residential area of College Park is actually one of the Gulfport areas that demands the least police service. Tiffany Neves with Gulfport PD Community Relations and Crime Prevention said, “With my experience with community watch meetings, this is a very good turnout. This is a lot better than how we’ve done in a lot of neighborhoods and that’s very good because it shows that they care about their community. The crime rate is actually very low. It’s the lowest it’s been in a very long time, but that has to do with the people that live there calling us and letting us know and our police officers are always out patrolling whenever they need us.”

During the meeting Gulfport Police Deputy Chief Chris Loposser mentioned the importance of calling in any suspicious activity. He says that although social media is a great resource, community Facebook groups should not be used as the main tool to report crime.