DATE: Wednesday, July 2, 1997               TAG: 9707020571

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JENNIFER LANGSTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS                  LENGTH:   70 lines

KILL DEVIL HILLS AND GREENVILLE WILL SHARE 3 POLICE OFFICERS

Three police officers will spend summers on the beach and winters in Greenville under a new program that puts police where the people go.

With the influx of tourists to the Outer Banks during the summer and students wintering in Greenville for the school year, the two departments arranged to share three officers.

They arrived ready for duty in Kill Devil Hills Monday, where they will begin three weeks of training and introduction. They join a current force of 23 sworn officers.

``This thing is very unique. I don't know of two other local agencies collaborating like this,'' David Jones, the deputy director of the Governor's Crime Commission, said at a press conference here Tuesday.

The departments received $144,750 from the crime commission to get the program rolling. The money pays for salaries, equipment and patrol cars for the three officers.

The total cost of the program will be $193,000. Seventy-five percent of that will be paid with money from the U.S. Justice Department. The remainder will be split between the two departments.

The federal money is earmarked for innovative projects that support community policing - the idea that officers should probe the root causes of crimes before they happen.

``It's getting officers back in the community looking at underlying problems,'' Jones said. ``It moves from a 911 approach and reacting to crimes to getting out in front of them.''

The three new officers will be assigned to patrol duty in Kill Devil Hills. But that frees three other officers to serve on a task force to target special problems - from drugs to larceny - in greater depth.

``When we have trouble that develops, we'll assign them,'' said Ray Davis, police chief in Kill Devil Hills.

In Greenville the officers willwork in a special crash unit targeting areas with traffic accidents, a major problem in the college town.

Officials said the pilot program would put more feet on the street at minimal cost to taxpayers. Given the Kill Devil Hills budget, hiring more officers would have been nearly impossible, Davis said.

``Police chiefs are always wanting more personnel and more police officers to patrol the streets,'' said Davis, who approached Greenville Police Chief Charles Hinman with the idea of sharing officers.

``He looked at me kind of like I'd lost my mind or something. Then it sunk in and he said, `That might work.' ''

The needs of the two departments complement each other. The Kill Devil Hills force is overburdened in the summer while the population in Greenville swells with students from Eastern Carolina State University during the other months of the year.

The program has been funded for one year. The crime commission will review it and possibly help fund it for another.

After that, the costs of the three officers' salaries would have to be picked up by the local police departments. The departments get to keep the cars and equipment.

Jones said the idea reflected a rare cooperative spirit in both departments. With the difficulty of finding money to hire officers, police chiefs are often reluctant to let them out of their sight.

But finding ways to stretch resources is always welcome.

``It really is the future of policing. We're going to be looking very closely at this over the year. We see this has a lot of potential,'' Jones said.

Echoing the excitement were the new officers.

``It's a pretty neat concept,'' said Tony Smith, 23, who volunteered and was chosen for the split assignment. ``Both cities are making out with three more police officers.''

Of course, it didn't hurt that he gets to spend a summer in the sun and surf. ``I love the beach,'' he said. ``Now that I'm down here there's no need to go anywhere else.''

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