Lebanon Police focus on prevention, seek the public’s assistance, chief says

With the celebration of Thank a Police Officer Day Saturday, Sept. 21, the Lebanon Police Department is working on many different plans that all serve one purpose: to prevent crime. Police Chief Jerry Harrison said the Department seeks to follow the example set by Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the London Metropolitan Police Force in 1829. Harrison said Peel’s goal was to concentrate on preventing crime instead of just increasing enforcement actions. “To earn the public’s trust, we need to gain maximum compliance with the law through a minimum of intrusion into people’s lives,” Harrison said. “You don’t do that by arresting people. You do that by getting the community to assist in preventing crime.” For more on this story, see Saturday's LCR