Wheat Ridge Police Department uses relationship-based policing [Video]

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — As more businesses find a home on 38th Avenue, the Wheat Ridge Police Department says it’s working to make more of an effort to build relationships with their owners. 

38th Avenue has seen some crime in the last year, including an aggravated robbery at a jewelry story in Denver last week and a jewelry store owner killed in Wheat Ridge last year. Wheat Ridge police are hoping to develop a rapport with business owners before any potential crime happens. 

“This is an operation from the heart,” said Annika Pearson, a co-owner of Mr. Biscuits Bakery in Wheat Ridge. “All the way up, all the way down, this street, this block, this neighborhood is so perfect for us.” 

“Basically, we want to have a great relationship with these businesses, with the folks, with the schools, before any bad things happen. So when they do need to call us, we already have a great place to …