MOSES LAKE — Wanting to reach residents better and address issues in specific neighborhoods, the Moses Lake Police Department will soon be holding community outreaches around the city to hear about what is going on in neighborhoods and to educate the public about what the department does.

MLPD Chief Kevin Fuhr said in 2018 his department is going to focus a little bit more on community outreach. Fuhr explained he could set up events like other departments do, like “Coffee With a Cop,” but he says he doesn’t think an outreach like that would necessarily reach the entire community.

“Then I could do the big town hall like the sheriff does, but, again, I am not connecting with smaller groups of people that have personal issues within their neighborhoods,” Fuhr stated.

Fuhr decided to team up with the Moses Lake Ministerial Association to do small, neighborhood group meetings throughout the city in conjunction with local churches. The meetings will include short presentations, complete with visuals, to explain to people what the MLPD does and the programs and services the department offers.

“And from there we are going to transition into asking questions...what is going on in your neighborhood? Do you have code enforcement issues? Do you have barking dog issues? Do you have junk vehicle issues? What do you have going on in your neighborhood? Then we can try to tackle those specific issues.”

The first outreach will take place from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at El Sendero Life Center, 2227 W. Peninsula Dr. The presentation will be in both English and Spanish and light refreshments will be provided. The event is open to anyone who attends El Sendero and anyone who lives in the neighborhood surrounding the church. Fuhr and a few MLPD officers will be present at the meeting.

“When we have these big events I think we don’t hit the whole population. I don’t think we are hitting the Latino community like we should be. I don’t think we are hitting the Ukrainian community like we should be. My point of getting with the churches is, then I can go to the Latino churches and say, ‘Guys here is what we’ve got and we would like to do this so that your congregation and the people that live in your neighborhood can come and ask us questions.’”

Fuhr said he has another outreach planned for March that will be announced in the coming weeks. The idea is to schedule outreaches throughout the year.