COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has a lot on her plate right now.
Despite that, she made time to take questions from concerned citizens about the city's crime problem. To Dee Debenport, that means something.
"If the citizens of Columbus can look at Chief Elaine Bryant and they can trust her then that trust trickles down to other officers,” she said.
Debenport has been waiting a long time to meet the new chief of police.
She said there was no better place to finally shake hands than the Connect 2 Protect Block Watch Tuesday night.
"She is everywhere, and I’ll tell you, it's shaking Columbus up. People appreciate it and they know notice it,” said Debenport.
The Block Watch represents the Brewery District, German & Merion Villages, and Schumacher place. They work alongside police to keep an eye on crimes that happen.
Debenport said a majority of the crimes they see are property damage, car theft, or prostitution. But for chief Bryant, a crime is a crime no matter how big or small.
“We're new to Columbus so we absolutely want to make sure we are accessible, we're personable. We want to know them. We want to hear their concerns,” chief Bryant said.
People were able to ask her questions about the future plans with the department to improve relationships with other officers.
"As long as we're having those open communications, we're filling those gaps, we're making sure the partnerships with police are strong and that's how we're going to be able to combat some of our issues,” chief Bryant said.
Bryant has only been chief for 54 days, but Debenport has a feeling the city she loves is much stronger with its new leader.
"I’m looking to the chief to help push the success along, but it doesn’t all fall on her that wouldn't be fair. It falls on all of us,” said Debenport.