By Anne Levin

Last Thursday, stormy weather nearly scrapped a scheduled stroll around downtown Princeton that was designed to bring together officers of the local police department with members of the community. But the rain held out, and the inaugural “Walk and Talk” event took place as planned.

“Walk and Talk” is the latest initiative of the Princeton Police Department’s Community Relations Bureau. While officers occupy a regular table at the Thursday Farmers Market in Hinds Plaza, encouraging members of the public to approach them with ideas and issues, actually walking together and pointing out specific areas of concern takes communication a step further.

“This is a new concept,” said Chief Matthew Solovay, who introduced the initiative during his monthly report at the August 24 meeting of Princeton Council. “It gives us a chance to identify concerns, enhance safety, and learn a little bit about each other.”

Elaborating on the idea this week, Solovay credited Patrolman Dimitrios Stoupas with getting it started. “It is really his brainchild, his new idea,” said Solovay. “Sometimes the best community policing is the simplest. By getting together and walking with members of the community, we have an opportunity to meet people where they are instead of waiting for them to come to us with a concern. We want to solve problems, but use the community to help us. That’s what community policing is.”

Municipal staff members take part in the walks. “We brought our police department together with the engineering department and other municipal team partners so we’re all in the same place at the same time,” Solovay said.

The police department has been involved in additional community policing activities this summer, including the Youth Police Academy and National Night Out. With school back in session, the focus is currently on making sure students travel safely to and from the elementary, middle, and high schools.

Eventually, the department hopes to expand the “Walk and Talk” events to include a senior stroll in collaboration with the Center for Modern Aging Princeton. “It’s still in the infant stage, but we want to do it,” Solovay said. “It will get older residents active, and out into the community with us. We’re hoping it gains some steam. We’re really trying to cater to different groups.”

At the Council meeting last week, Councilman David Cohen praised the police department efforts to get the “Walk and Talk” initiative underway. “I want to really praise the outreach efforts I’ve been hearing about the Community Relations Bureau,” he said, “and not just the ‘Walk and Talk.’ I know there is a senior walk planned as well for elder members of our community. It’s just fantastic. There is a really noticeable uptick in the outreach.”

“We’re looking to build relationships. It’s that simple,” said Solovay. “This is just the beginning of what we want to do.”