Downtown business owners should be prepared to start getting regular visits from a Franklin police officer.
He’ll be stopping in to talk — but not because anything is wrong. His new job is to build relationships with downtown workers, shoppers, pedestrians and motorists.
Patrolman Ryan Mears starts his new assignment this week as the Franklin police downtown corridor officer. The job also includes educating about and eventually enforcing the new parking limits on certain streets, keeping semi-trucks out of downtown and crime prevention.
While he’ll have his police car downtown, expect to see him walking the sidewalks, not behind the wheel.
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“We talk a lot about building relationships with people, and that’s a great way to do it,” said Mears, who has been a Franklin police officer for nearly 14 years.
The job was envisioned by Mayor Steve Barnett, who wanted a police presence downtown for shoppers and workers. Mears’ new home will be primarily along Jefferson Street, from Walnut to Hurricane streets, and part of Monroe Street.
Mears plans to forge relationships between downtown businesses when needed, such as if one business has surveillance footage that another needs, or if one business is having a problem with parking or damage that another business can help solve. He’ll also help marry the needs of residents who live downtown with businesses who are trying to serve customers.
“I think a very important part of the job is bringing people together,” he said.
Together, they can tackle crime, traffic or parking issues by starting with communication, Mears said. He will be a teacher, a problem-solver and, sometimes, a mediator. If you need advice on camera systems for your business, he can help. He’ll let you know if a neighboring business had a break-in, and work to prevent crime.
He wants downtown residents and workers to seek him out, know who he is, talk to him and never dread the attention of a police officer stopping by, Mears said.
In the end, he wants downtown shops to call him when they have a question or need some help and view it as a personal call to someone they’ve come to rely on and trust, he said. They’ll come to count on a quick response and lots of follow-through, Mears said.
He sees the growth in businesses and people in downtown Franklin, and the tax dollars that have been spent recreating the city, and said his new job is a way for the city to protect its investment by continuing to guide the right atmosphere downtown. The move isn’t due to any increase in crime or problems downtown, but the safe, fun destination that downtown has become known for, with its parks, trails, restaurants and shops needs a dedicated commitment from the police department.
He’ll attend festivals and special events, but also be downtown and able to respond immediately if a business needs emergency help.
With a background in property management, he can relate to residents and businesses that might have concerns about parking, damage, disruption or other issues, he said.
Starting this month, the city is educating drivers and business owners about its new parking limits on certain streets, and some tickets could eventually be written to people who blatantly violate the limits. For starters, the city will enforce a two-hour parking limit on East and West Court streets, the southside of Monroe Street from Jackson to Water streets, and the west side of Water Street, from Jefferson to Monroe streets.
