COLUMBUS, Ohio - Dave McManus has lived in the Hilltop area of Columbus since the early 1980s.
Over the years, he says he's seen the problems from drug deals to prostitution. He guesses he sees at least five situations a day. But, still, he stays.
"You can't let them drive you away," he said. "That's not going to solve the problem."
"So, why we're here is about change," Columbus Police Interim Chief Thomas Quinlan said.
Monday, Quinlan addressed a reorganization to the department from the mission to the core values. He also announced new initiatives, like community services, mobile crisis response and Police and Community Together, or PACT, that can focus on prostitution, for example, by taking offenders off the streets, but also finding them the help they need.
It's all aimed at being a more community-based and service-driven department.
"This is what the community wants," Quinlan said. "This is what the community deserves and this is what our new mission is."
As part of the reorganization, officers can now be on a rotation.
"The downside to that is if you pull people in and out of there, maybe they're just now getting really good at their job," Keith Ferrell said. "There's some concerns about that but to be fair, I don't know how that system is going to work just yet."
Ferrell is the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9 President. He says he applauds the changes, yet it's too soon to know what will work for sure. He says the announcement, Monday, is about finding common ground.
"The community and the officers have a lot more in common than people probably realize," he said.
The idea of doing more that is focused around the people and the community is an idea he says he and other officers are behind.
"We're here to serve the public and we realize that the public's needs sometimes change," Ferrell said.
McManus says still, police can't do it all and people need to get involved. But, the changes will seemingly offer up neighborhoods like the Hilltop a second chance to get back to what made them great.
"We just need to get our Hilltop back...well, Columbus in general back to what it once was," McManus said.