Wheat Ridge PD teaches dog walkers to be the eyes and ears of their communities

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Once a year, Wheat Ridge police offers a class to the public to teach them to be better observers. They could use these skills to keep an eye on their neighborhood while doing something as simple as walking their dogs.

The Dog Walker Watch Program is instructed by Wheat Ridge Officer Marc Fisher.

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“Our goal with this is a greater degree of eyes out in the community. People that are walking their dogs, people that are the frontlines for us. We will have more people that are engaged and able to be good observers and good witnesses,” said Fisher.

Over a dozen members of the community were in attendance for this year’s class, learning new ways to improve their situational awareness. Below are some tips provided by Wheat Ridge police in order to determine what is potentially suspicious behavior.

Chrys Hoppe has lived in Wheat Ridge for the past seven years. She said she joined this year’s class to better understand what law enforcement wants from the community.

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“Dog walking, it's more of a leisure activity, you have the ability to be more aware of what's happening. Understanding that you're looking for behavior and not necessarily a person being suspicious. The person is not suspicious, it's the behavior that's suspicious,” said Hoppe.

Wheat Ridge police say that the majority of their calls for service come from bystanders. Police rely on these callers to remember important details of any given situation. The more details, the better.

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“Taking all that information and, as best you can, giving it to the call taker so that they can communicate that information to the officers that are responding (is important),” said Fisher.

Officer Fisher told Denver7 that the department also see the Dog Walker Watch Program as a way to build trust between police and members of the community.

Fisher said it's also about, "being able to work together towards this common goal of community safety."

“I think if there are enough people that care and are more aware of what’s happening, it’ll certainly keep the community safer,” said Hoppe.

The Dog Walker Watch Program only takes place once per year. For more information on the program, you can contact Wheat Ridge PD’s Crime Prevention Team or keep an eye on Wheat Ridge PD’s social media.

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