Essex Police Community Relations Council to Host First Meeting

In recent months, there have been several crime trends throughout the Essex police precinct.

There was a string of armed robberies involving local convenience and liquor stores, a rash of copper pipe thefts, and burglaries of  several homes in and around Aero Acres. While most of those cases have been solved, the police would like nothing more than to better communicate those trends with area residents.

Aero Acres resident Dennis Gilpin agrees, which is why he agreed to be the director of the newly formed Essex Police Community Relations Council meeting. The organization will host its first meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Stembridge Community Center, located at 101 Stemmers Run Rd.

“I want the community to be able to know what is going on with crime in our area and having a regular dialogue like this with the police can only help,” Gilpin said. “It allows us to hear what the police have to say and gives residents a chance to voice their concerns. We also can learn what is going on in neighboring communities to see how they are dealing with similar issues and whether crime nearby could bleed into our neighborhoods.”

Officer Natalie Bakhsh of the Essex Precinct said she is looking forward to working with the council, as it will bring many area communities together to discuss crime and crime prevention, as well as improve relationships between residents and the police.

“People often don’t think an issue in their community is important enough to contact the police or call 911 about, but having a council like this is the perfect avenue for concerned residents to address their concerns to us,” Bakhsh said.

In addition to the Essex Police Community Relations Council meeting, the police community outreach team will host a robbery prevention seminar from 3-5 p.m. Tuesday at the Stembridge Community Center. This is for business owners and managers in and around Essex.  The seminar is designed to give information to businesses about security, lighting, alarms, and on what to do if a robbery occurs.  For more information, contact Officer Dan Coyne 410-887-0232.