3 North Texas cities work out arrangement in an effort to stop spread of crime
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Police in three North Texas cities have worked out a unique arrangement to allow officers to spread across city boundaries, to try to stop crime from spreading.
Police from White Settlement and Lake Worth have started patrolling in defined areas along their shared borders with Fort Worth. Officers will have the authority to make traffic stops and arrests, even if they are not within the boundaries of the city where they work.
The locations include sections of highways like Loop 820, I-30 and Jacksboro Highway, but also neighborhood roads like Cahoba Dr. and Shore View Dr. around the shoreline of Lake Worth.
The arrangement stemmed from the smaller cities regularly watching stolen vehicles and violent crime spread into their communities from their larger neighbor.
"So why not put our resources on those corridor areas where it helps the larger city by keeping their units, their officers available and then it also helps reduce crime for us as well," said White Settlement Police Chief Chris Cook.
He doesn't expect it to strain resources in his city, due to a much smaller call volume. Officers are already regularly in or near those areas when needed to help out with crashes or crimes. Now, they can be proactive about going there.
"There is no doubt in my mind, that collaboration like this is the future of law enforcement," said Lake Worth Police Chief J.T. Manoushagian.
The agencies had to figure out how to handle tickets written in one city, by an officer employed in another city. Judge Christopher Gregory, the Tarrant County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4, agreed to handle all of those violations. Anything more serious would be referred to the district attorneys office like any other crime.