A Warner Robins park project will bring a new playground and gym to north Warner Robins, but it also will bring a new police precinct.
The precinct was included in the plans at the request of Councilman Clifford Holmes, who says he hopes a better police presence will help the area's reputation.
At the Boys and Girls Club in Deloris Toliver Park, staff member Geral Handsome says she would support a police precinct next door.
“I don't feel like this space is like safe, so a police precinct would be good for the kids, cause like some of the people actually try to come into the boys and girls club to get water cause they're thirsty from playing basketball, so it would be nice to have a police precinct,” Handsome said.
Handsome is a student at Fort Valley State University and is working at the Club.
The Club helps kids from six-years-old through teenage years to find mentors and stay out of trouble. It also offers after-school and summer programs.
Mom Dolrene Earl-Snear said the precinct would make a difference for her 8-year-old son.
“That is an excellent idea, because this area really can use it. There's a lot of activity that is taking place around the facility,” Snear said after dropping off her son.
Snear says her son, Johnny, has been a member for three years and in that time the Club has been burglarized.
The Club is just part of Deloris Toliver park, which is going to get a new community gym, splashpad and playground in coming months. It also will get a police precinct.
In the neighborhoods around the park, police were called or had incident reports roughly 600 times since January 1st of this year, according to an open records request filed this month.
13 WMAZ requested police to send a list of incidents reported since the start of 2018 in the areas south of King Road, north of Green Street, west of North Davis Drive, and east of Northside Drive and Elberta Road.
Those calls varied from runaway teens to more serious crimes like aggravated assault and shots fired. The report also included about two dozen calls for information out of the more than 600 incidents recorded.
Councilman Clifford Holmes says the area's reputation is why he requested the precinct.
“When we talked about doing work out here, when we talked about why people don't come over here, the standard answer is well because of the gangs and there's nothing but trouble over here,” Holmes said.
The Department currently has 57 officers, so 13 WMAZ asked Holmes how much time he thought officers would be able to spend at the new precinct.
“I feel personally that they should be patrolling this area anyway. What it would do in my belief, is it would give them a place to stop and do paperwork and whatever, and be visible on the site,” Holmes added.
The park is in Holmes’ district and construction is expected to start in eight to ten weeks.