With a decreased crime rate in Junction City, law enforcement are continually working on strengthening community relationships.

Junction City Police Chief Dan Breci said there is a strong effort to maintain a positive perception of law enforcement.

“We have a great Community Involvement Unit that are involved in the Citizens Academy right now and a lot of other proactive events coming up that they’re involved in,” said Breci.

Law enforcement across the United States has had a tough year with their public perception.

“It’s sad to me and the people that work in law enforcement, because we’re out there trying to do our best at protecting the public and serving them, and sometimes people think that we’re the bad guys,’ said Breci. “In our community, I don’t see that [bad guy perception] at all, but I know one incident could spark something; and it may not be our community that’s upset, it may be people that want to come in and start trouble.”

For the JCPD, officers are reminded constantly the value of civility and being reliable.

“With all of our officers, we try to hammer into them everyday professionalism and doing the right thing, regardless of the cost; I think we do an excellent job and I have an excellent staff, we have great support from the community and [my] bosses at City Hall,” said Breci.

Breci visited the KJCK studios Friday morning where he noted that the crime rate is down by nearly 11 percent early into 2017.