LEWISVILLE, Texas — From major thefts to violent crimes, police across Texas have their hands and schedules full. They’re also feeling the pressure to get to all the minor issues that neighbors are calling in.

“During Covid — there’s a lot of people who’ve been working from home, so they’re spending more time at home and they’re walking around their neighborhoods,” said Lewisville Police Sgt. Steve Dickens.

Dickens said the department’s social media as well as online reporting tools have been getting a lot more complaints from citizens about stuff like parking issues in neighborhoods and code violations. The easier communication with police has become, the easier it is for people to raise the red flag on issues.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing Dickens said as he put a warning slip on a car parked facing the wrong way on the wrong side of a neighborhood street. After all, he said even that poorly parked car creates a safety issue as the driver has to cross multiple traffic lanes to get out and could provide an unexpected hazard for traffic going the correct way. 

Even small infractions matter, but he said that doesn’t make it any less of a burden for the already busy department.

The Lewisville police are trying a new approach to give those small-time problems the focus they deserve, while not taking the focus from everything else in the process.

Dickens, along with three others in the department have taken on the role of neighborhood resource officers and launched a neighborhood parking enforcement program. The team is going neighborhood by neighborhood trying to educate residents about parking issues that can create a nuisance for some of their neighbors.

“We put up signs all through the neighborhood, and then we give them a week to comply: to learn what the rules are,” said Dickens.

Dickens said many neighbors clearly were not aware they were doing anything illegal in the first place. He said they’re mostly just giving warning notices and are trying to avoid ticketing until all other options are exhausted. Dickens doesn’t want to ruin anyone’s day with these issues, he just wants to fix them.

“This parking enforcement program came about because of complaints,” he said. “It would be an injustice to our citizens not to do something about the problem.”

Dickens said the team has already been contacted by other agencies who are also looking for ways to put some focus on taking care of the influx of minor complaints. He said they’re still trying to figure out how successful this program will be, but it seems off to a good start.

Along with better compliance in the neighborhoods they’ve already targeted, he said social media feedback has resulted in a lot of citizens happy to see the issues getting handled.