WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Officials in Wilkes-Barre hope you soon won't have to go too far from your neighborhood if you're seeking the assistance of a police officer by opening five police substations throughout the city.
"In each of the five districts, what I'm calling a police substation is where an officer or officers will be able to stop there, do their paperwork, be able to walk the neighborhoods. So now we're going to have a police presence in the neighborhoods, making sure neighbors are safe, and but also have a place where people know that they're there. They see the cruiser, they know that there's a police officer there if they need to talk to them," said Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown.
"It'd be a lot quicker for them to get to a police station if they actually needed one or needed to get to one to report a crime or something happening to them, which is good," said resident David Conahan.
Officials in the city hope this adds to the sense of security and community to Wilkes-Barre.
"Bringing back the community policing in neighborhoods that we haven't had for an awfully long time," said the mayor.
"Smart, smart," said Conahan. "I think that they have that in San Francisco like that. Substations all up in Chinatown, all around downtown San Francisco, they have the same thing."
Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and Advanced Hearing Solutions on Old River Road have already been designated as substations, and the mayor is looking to add three more in other parts of the city. If you think your business would be a good fit, you're asked to contact the city.