The Bloomington Police Department (BPD) will soon be conducting mobile roll calls throughout the city to improve connections with neighborhoods, according to a press release.
A roll call is the time when shift assignments are handed out and officers are given relevant information. Community members will be invited to attend when they see the Mobile Field Office truck; they can express their concerns to officers and meet the people patrolling their neighborhoods.
“We thought that mobile roll calls would be a way in which our officers could meet community members and listen to their concerns so that we could more efficiently police the city and address the crime concerns that members of the community have,” said Ryan Pedigo, a captain in the department.
Residents are encouraged to visit with officers as they see the roll calls, according to the press release. Interested parties also will be able to tour the Mobile Field Office or see the equipment in a patrol vehicle.
Roll calls occur at 5:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and at 9:30 p.m., according to the press release. Pedigo said BPD has not determined when the program will start but that they would try to advertise it.
A key recommendation from the community-member-led Future of Policing Task Force’s April 2022 inaugural report was increasing social or personal interactions between officers and the public. Mobile Roll Calls are one of several community outreach events planned over the next several months.
“This move to increase communication between officers and the community at large is one that can only strengthen BPD and Bloomington as a whole,” Mayor John Hamilton said in the release.
