Police Chief asks for citizens to be the “3rd man”

Just like KU fans are the sixth man and Chiefs fans are the 12th man, the Independence Kansas Police Department (IPD) is asking citizens to be the “3rd Officer.”

Independence Police Chief Jerry Harrison says his department only has two officers on duty to patrol 100 miles of roads and respond to calls for service every 29 minutes.

Being the “Third Officer” is as simple as practicing some cheap, easy crime
prevention actions:

1. Don’t leave your keys in the car-88% of cars are stolen using the owner’s keys in the US, almost 100% locally.

2. Lock your car doors-95% of car break-ins in Independence occurred in unlocked cars so far this year.

3. Put your car windows up and house windows down and locked.

4. Lock your doors, every exterior door you own needs to be locked.

5. Lock up your bike.

6. Use disc locks on storage units.

7. Stop your newspapers and mail when you aren’t home, or have a trusted friend pick the items up.

8. Request a house-watch from IPD while you’re on vacation.

Harrison says citizens everywhere can be a “3rd Officer” by calling police when they believe they are  witnessing suspicious or criminal activity.