COPPERAS COVE, Texas (KXXV) — The Copperas Cove Police Department is taking a proactive approach to crime prevention with a new door hanger initiative aimed at businesses and residents.
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The program gives officers a way to make business owners and neighbors aware of anything that could make them vulnerable to crime, while also asserting a visible police presence in the area during regular patrols.
Lieutenant Rick Counter said officers look for obvious signs that could signal an opportunity for crime — without touching anyone's property.
"An officer walks down the street, shines a flashlight in the window, they can see the little doorknob. If it's up, it indicates it's unlocked. Sometimes they have a little red. A sticker that indicates the door is open, so we're not grabbing anybody's door handles or anything like that. We're just looking for things that are immediately obvious that anybody else would be able to see," Counter said.
Counter said property crimes in the area often follow patterns that cross city lines.
"What we found with property crimes is it's often perpetrated by juveniles and often works in rings as well. Say if Killeen has a bunch of burglaries, we can almost expect within a week or so they'll start happening here because people just move from town to town. So it's always in a trend, but we're always looking for proactive ways to stop it," Counter said.
Police said the door hanger initiative will be a long-term prevention effort the department plans to continue.
Tasha Roberts, who has owned Babies N Things for years, said she is grateful for the department's pro-activeness after experiencing a break-in at her baby thrift store a few years ago.
"The next morning when we came in we saw the door was smashed and the portion of the register had been ripped out, so that was definitely a concern at that point we invested in more security cameras and, different things of that nature," Roberts said.
Safety has been a top priority for Roberts ever since. In the back of her store, she is building a free space where mothers can access supplies through her nonprofit.
The mission behind Babies N Things is personal for Roberts. She said watching her mother struggle inspired her to create a space where women can find affordable merchandise and support.
"I think it was something near and dear to my heart of my mother, she struggled with us. I watched her do that and so I just felt like, maybe there's something I can do in a different way if I can provide merchandise that ladies can afford. I can provide any type of assistance to them, then I think that's something that I wanna do. I kind of feel like it was a calling almost," Roberts said.
She said the people she serves makes security a constant concern.
"I think about my customers. I have pregnant women that come in the store and it's safety first no matter what we do here," Roberts said.
Roberts said she believes a more visible police presence could deter would-be criminals.
"I feel like if people who potentially would commit crimes saw that the police were getting a little bit more engaged and a little more active then that would cut down on it." Roberts said.
Roberts said new activity in the area has made the police program even more valuable.
"There's a lot of new activity in Coppers Cove we have a lot of transients in the area now and so being here sometimes working alone by myself. It gets pretty scary when they're walking up and pacing up and down the sidewalk," Roberts said.
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