Greenfield PD working for safe summer

Police say no school and hot summer nights can been an invitation for underage teens to get into trouble.

Since a month before local schools let out, Greenfield officers have been keeping any eye out between the hours of 1 and 5 am for anyone under the age of 18.

Lt. Randy Ratliff came up with idea for adding the extra patrols. "Our vehicle break-ins are down considerably from last year and our night time burglaries, business burglaries, so I think it's making a difference," Ratliff said.

Sgt. J.D. Fortner slowly cruises through neighborhoods and city streets looking for anyone or anything suspicious.  "Just the presence of a police car out in the wee hours of the morning tends to detour a lot of crime," Fortner said.

Having the extra patrols allows other officers to concentrate on things other than enforcing the curfew.

"We're assisting the third shift officers as well, so if they get calls and an officer needs assistance on a call or we're close to the call where the officer is going we'll assist them," Fortner said.  And Saturday night that's exactly what happened.

During the patrol, a call comes over the radio.  Someone has been stabbed in the leg and the suspect ran to an area nearby.  Having an extra set of eyes pays off.

Sgt. Fortner quickly finds the suspect hiding in a bush.

After talking with witnesses where the stabbing took place, Fortner loads back up and returns to his patrol, keeping an eye out until the curfew ends.