Raleigh police department reintroduces 'Cops on the Block' neighborhood initiative

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Raleigh's new police chief is bringing back an old idea to bolster relationship-based policing.

Raleigh Police Department is re-introducing its 'Cops on the Block' initiative.

It's one of the first measures enacted under Police Chief Rico Boyce since becoming top cop.

Officers were in a Raleigh community east of downtown on Haywood Street. They knocked on doors, checking in with neighbors and listening to concerns.

ABC11 was with Chief Boyce when he met neighbor Rebecca Gage. She moved to the neighborhood two years ago.

"Coming from a place like L.A, there is a lot of kind of anger towards police presence sometimes -- because they're not really plugged into the community or it seems so," Gage said. "So it's nice to have them actually actively a part of the community because... they're going to try to, you know, work for safety as opposed to, you know, more violence."

The department plans to take this effort to neighborhoods in each police district.