DANVILLE — Only four people attended the Danville Community/Police roundtable discussion Thursday evening, but Police Chief Monte Vance hopes it will still be the beginning of improved communication between his department and local residents.
The number of other events going on in the community probably hurt attendance at the meeting.
Vance said he wanted the meeting to be a chance to explain the structure of his small department and how it works with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement in the town, and to give residents a chance to talk about their concerns in the community.
The department only has two full-time officers, plus Vance, who is part-time, and three auxiliary officers, who are fully trained as police but are volunteers. Since they cannot have someone on duty at all times, deputies will answer calls in Danville at those times.
Joining Vance on the panel for the discussion were Capt. Dave Shaffer from the sheriff’s office, and auxiliary officers Lisa Lyons and Chase Wright. Lyons is in charge of the town’s Neighborhood Watch program.
Vance said he has an “open door” policy at his office and he wants community members to feel free to meet with him there or to call or email him about their concerns. He has an email address dedicated only to police business at policechief@danvilleohio.org.
He also said the village website is being rebuilt and should be up soon.
“I want the residents of Danville to know they can contact me anytime,” he said. “We’re a small village with limited resources and we want to give the community the most bang for the buck. That takes relationships and communication between the community and the agencies that serve the community.
“We want the community to give us feedback on how to make the community better.”