WACO, Texas — The Waco Police Department is looking to try something new to help keep Central Texans safe.
For Waco Police, it's about making sure the public is educated when it comes to protecting themselves, their homes and their businesses.
"I really want the public to have a better understanding of what we do and why we do it because there's a lot of misconception about what police do," said Sergeant Chet Long with the Waco Police Department. "Since the early '90s, police have become very reactionary to different crimes and us reacting does not give us time to engage with the community."
Over the past five years, gun-related crimes have more than tripled in Waco. According to a report, in 2017 there were 78 crimes involving a gun but in 2021, that number ballooned to 264.
"Words cannot adequately describe the immeasurable toll and trauma gun violence exacts on everyone," police wrote in a news release. "We need victims and witnesses to be forthcoming with information as to suspect’s motives as to why the shooting occurred and we need victims not to retaliate against those they believe are responsible for the violence directed at them."
Sergeant Long said the idea of this summit is directly linked to the numbers the department is seeing and mentioned violent crime in the city when asked if there was something that brought this idea to the forefront.
"Chief Victorian came to us with the idea of doing this event with the hope of lowering some of those numbers as far as the burglaries we do have and also a lot of the violent crime that is currently happening," he said.
The crime summit is part of a much bigger picture and hope for the City of Waco and those that live here, something Waco Police Chief talked about during an exclusive sit-down.
"We need to have more positive interactions with communities of color and not just respond when they call the police," she said. "So, we need to increase that engagement and build that emotional capital."
Sergeant Long said the crime summit will not only teach but he stressed how much it will engage those that attend.
"A lot of times engaging the community and giving them a voice will help them better understand what we need and what we're looking for. This also gives us an opportunity to use them as our eyes and ears," he said.
While community engagement is a big part of what will happen this weekend, Sergeant Long said there will also be a vendor summit as well. This will be a chance for residents and business owners to learn how local businesses can help them stay safe.
"Most of this is engaging the community and showing them what we do and why we do it and really taking that with them and knowing how they can better protect themselves rather than simply having to rely on us to react," Long said.
Waco Lock and Key, Paladin Security and Home Depot are a few of the businesses Long said will be attending. According to various posts on Twitter, the police department said they will also have Unbound available to talk about Human Trafficking. Select Jiu-Jitsu will also be on hand to talk about self-defense training among many others.
"It's a summit where we have vendors from the community come in and pretty much educate the public on different ways they can come in and help keep themselves, their business and their homes safe," said Waco Police Officer Jane Draper Waco.
"We are not there in the community so what they see and relate to us is how you prevent crime and how you help us help you," Draper continued.
If you would like to attend the free event, it will be held this Saturday at Knox Hall on the campus of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in Waco and runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.