WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — If you have questions or ideas for law enforcement in Warner Robins, they are ready to listen. Warner Robins Police are holding a town hall meeting to hear from you on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
This is the third community town hall this year. The goal is for the department to connect with the community across different areas of town. This time, leaders will meet at Second Baptist Church on Moody Road.
People off of Feagin Mill Road say they'd like to hear the department talk about traffic, and speeding enforcement in their neighborhoods.
Others nearby say they just want to know how the community can help serve the Police Department.
Like many others in the city, Tim Lehenbauer moved to the area because of a job opportunity, and family.
"I've been here about 10 years. I've been running My Father's Place for nine," Lehenbauer said.
He is the owner of My Father's Place Pizza. Compared to other places he's lived like Denver Colorado, he says Warner Robins is very safe.
"You don't see a lot of crime in the area. I mean, there's accidents and a few crimes here and there," he said.
In the past, he said he's had to call the police for minor problems and even worked with the department when they needed access to security footage.
"They're here pretty quickly, so I think they do a great job in Warner Robins," he said.
In August, Police Chief Wayne Fisher said crime was up in the city. Many of the crimes often involve youth and guns.
We asked some young people what their thoughts were.
"Before we graduated, there were some incidents with students and the resource officers happening at school," Trey Jones said.
He and Nirobii Carodine are recent graduates at Veterans High School. They say they mostly saw trouble at school, which was handled by the Houston County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officers.
While out in town, they saw differently.
"I would say it's pretty well," Carodine said.
"Yeah, it's pretty nice here," Jones said.
They say there are the occasional speeding issues, but they see police patrolling often.
"My mom owns a shop, Pen and Portrait, it's a tattoo shop. You will see them roll up," he said referring to police.
The boys didn't have concerns about how things are handled in the city, but Lehenbaur says he'd like to see more officers join the force if anything.
" I know a lot of the guys come in here to eat and it seems like they're always looking for new recruits, so I think the more guys they could get the better because it seems like they work a lot to fill time," Lehenbaur said.
He also hopes law enforcement is transparent during the town hall meeting.
"I hope they just, be honest with the community. What do you need? Do you need help from us or, you know, do we need to keep our eyes out for certain things or activities and we'll help them out as much as we can," he said.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. The address is 2504 Moody Rd, Warner Robins, GA 31088.