MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — The City of Mobile officials and leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Mobile Police Department First Precinct’s new location Tuesday morning.
The newest precinct is at 2601 Dauphin Island Parkway, in the heart of district 3. Mayor Sandy Stimpson said the location will allow citizens of Dauphin Island Parkway to receive better service from the Mobile Police Department.
The precinct will have a municipal clerk so that residents won’t need to travel downtown to handle business. Classrooms will be available for training sessions and community action group meetings.
The offices for victim advocacy and family intervention services, and the location will also give officers the chance to develop relationships with residents.
“When we talk about strategically locating these precincts, what that should help us do is to improve our response times but all the citizens on DIP, you should visually see a greater presence of the police just because of the coming and going,” said Mayor Stimpson. “As well all know that has an impact on crime also so I think that you’d see a benefit from that.”
The precinct will be run by Captain Lee Laffitte. He said this precinct places his staff in the best situation possible to succeed in improving safety.
Mobile Police Chief, Paul Prine, said crime is trending down about 14% compared to this time last year with the help of Mobile Police Department staff and leaders like Captain Laffitte.
“Part of the four tenants of excellence that we created when I came onboard as chief, the very first one is attitude, the second is appearance,” said Chief Prine. “Obviously today as you can see with this nice facility, professionalism is at the heart of what policing really is and the men and women that serve your community need to know when they walk in that they serve a professional outfit.”