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Our View
Citizen involvement makes Alton better
Recently, The Telegraph has published stories about local residents putting themselves on the line to assist the local police department in tracking down criminals.
One story was published early last week and was about a man taking photographs of another man who allegedly robbed a woman of a purse along Central Avenue in Alton. A suspect was arrested shortly after, largely because of the photo.
Later in the week, a neighbor's tip about a suspected drug house led to drug charges. Police took the tip and developed enough probable cause to get a search warrant that led to the bust.
A woman also helped solve a church burglary last week in Alton, identifying a suspect involved by providing police a description.
We wanted to commend the citizens for their involvement in the community and Alton Police Department officials feel the same way.
Police Chief Chris Sullivan said he greatly appreciates the involvement.
"We have a lot of information that leads to apprehension of people we are looking for," he told The Telegraph. "We receive a lot of cooperation from the community. There have been several instances where we were involved in making an arrest and people have come to my aid. We want people to be cognizant of their limitations and not put themselves into danger. We don't want a second level of victims."
Sullivan mentioned that the police department is part of the community and it assists a great deal when residents become involved.
He said there is a tremendous amount of assistance to the department that never gets public mention in the media.
The same can be said for the people who help dig someone out of the snow, pushing another person's car out of the road or ditch, etc. We see this kind of thing every day in our area.
Rather than complaining about this and that, why not help the police department capture criminals and make a difference in the community? Citizen involvement helps make the region a better place for everyone to live and work.
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