Heather Bell
RADFORD – The Radford City Police Department has been named a Certified Crime Prevention Community by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.
At a recent Radford City Council meeting, Tina Sumpter of the VDCJS said the distinction is something only a handful of communities have achieved.
“There are a total of 17 certified communities including Radford out of over 400 communities eligible,” she said. “This isn’t an easy task and takes a tremendous amount of dedication. It is an accomplishment your police department should be very proud of.”
The aim of the program, enacted in 1988, is to “promote community safety, particularly youth and family safety,” according to the VDCJS website. Certification includes a high level of positive interaction between the police department and community members and programs, for example, the Radford Youth-Adult Partnership.
Radford City Police Chief Jerry Holdaway credited his department, and particularly Captain Emily Hite, for the achievement.
“We’ve got one of the best police departments around and we’ve got some really good men and women who work here,” he said. “I can’t say enough about Emily Hite and the things she did to ensure that we became a Certified Crime Prevention Community. When you look at our core values and the goals we set, you can see where our true hearts are, and that’s the elderly and youth in our community.”
