Moore Police Department solves crimes using 'Geo-Policing'

The Moore Police Department is taking a community-based approach to policing their city.

Their method of keeping the city safe has been paying off in recent weeks. Moore police call it Geographic Policing or Geo-Policing. Department officials said it is not a new concept for law enforcement, but one their department put into practice a couple of years ago.

A foot chase through a Moore neighborhood on a cold January night landed two car burglary suspects in jail.

We had a rash of auto burglaries occurring in the area,” said Captain Kyle Johnson, Moore Police Department. “Officers assigned to that district across different shifts worked together to try to combat that issue.”

Captain Kyle Johnson said their strategy was part of the department’s geo-policing. One officer detained one of the suspects and launched a drone while the other officer ran after the second suspect.

“We have two officers to each district per shift and those officers work that same district for over the course of 12 months,” said Johnson.

The officers in the six districts get to know the community and the issues citizens are facing.

“They are able to notice things that stand out are different, they are able to notice crime trends in the area,” said Johnson. “They’re able to engage community members and be a direct resource for community members.”

In the case of the car burglaries, the officers in the district were able to identify the car burglary suspects through the help of the community.

“They were able to get some information and video to identify suspects,” said Johnson.

The officers knew the locations the men were targeting and caught them in the act. Johnson said it was a perfect example of geo-policing.

“We’ve solved so many crimes with it,” said Johnson

Johnson said typically with property crimes the suspects do not live far from their targets. Moore officers and their superiors hold monthly community engagement meetings or activities to get to know the people in their districts.