More than 20 years of community policing helps El Paso gain ‘safest city’ in the U.S. rank

EL PASO — When Slade Davis started patrolling the Northeast El Paso neighborhood once known as the Devil’s Triangle 22 years ago, it was plagued by drug dealers, gang violence, prostitution and violent crimes. The area was identified in the mid-1990s as a prime spot for community policing, a new law enforcement philosophy that emphasized a proactive approach to fighting crime based on community engagement and problem-solving techniques. Police area representatives, known as PAR officers, were trained to work with grassroots community groups to get to the root of problems in the neighborhood. Now the area bordered by the Patriot Freeway, Dyer, and Hondo Pass is known as the “Angel’s Triangle.” “With community policing we got the managers [of the apartments] involved, checking criminal histories, and working on the neighborhoods,” said Davis, now a community services officer in the Northeast Regional Command.