Chief of Police Hendrich Andel spoke to a journalist at the Hathian Observer, in a candid talk, about the idea of a “representative/representatives” elected by the citizens of Hathian in an attempt to create better understanding and relations between the Hathian Police Department and the public. The representative(s) would be expected to liaise with the Chief or HPD department and work through issues that involve the citizens of Hathian, their grievances, concerns and queries.
With recent occurrences of alleged abuses of power by officers of the HPD and debate sparking up over the course of actions following these allegations taken (or not taken) by the HPD, it seems like the Chief is trying to establish a step in building a better rapport between his department and the public. He spoke about hoping to “turn things around” in Hathian with the hopes that the representative or representatives would help to bring to light any issues that those living in the city might have and enabling quicker resolutions to the situations.
The HPD have a visible presence on the streets of Hathian and have been subject to attacks and kidnaps by gang members and citizens of the city, and argue that in order to do their job properly, they will need compliance from the citizens they are working to protect and serve. If the citizen’s are interested in establishing a body of people to represent the interests and issues of the city, it might help build up a solid relationship between the police and the community, as long as they have these things addressed and dealt with of course. The HPD are not able to address every situation or violent incident that occurs – as with any police force – but if this idea goes ahead people would be able to judge whether the HPD will make progress in addressing the concerns of the public and that the challenges that face both the police and the public will be faced and dealt with.
Will the citizens of Hathian be interested in a such a scheme and who would they choose to be representative(s) of the city? How many people should be chosen and from what background? These are some questions for the citizens to consider, among others. Those who would like to respond to this idea could write to the section of this paper reserved for opinion and debate with their own ideas and suggestions on this topic. Perhaps if the idea is popular with the general public it might lead to a city meeting. For now, it seems that the Chief is making a serious and focused effort at working on the relations between citizens and the police force, an opportunity the public could use to gauge how dedicated the Chief really is to making the city a better place for all to live in.
