Following up on his campaign promise to make public safety a priority, Mayor Bob Donchez sicced new Police Chief Mark DiLuzio, a longtime homicide detective with an amiable attitude and a love of community policing, on the task.

They announced at City Hall March 13 a departmental reorganization that reinstitutes the old-fashioned concept of the beat cop.

Next month, Donchez said, scheduling shifts and the addition of five new officers to the patrol division in January will bolster foot and bicycle patrols, as well as mounted units, in the city's Downtown business districts during peak hours. Ten additional officers are currently at the training academy and are expected to join patrols following graduation in June.

DiLuzio said foot patrols improve the visibility of police while enhancing the community partnerships and goodwill. Ideally, a day shift officer will find a highly visible area to park his or her patrol car and then spend the latter half of their shift walking the Downtown beat. He or she will then be replaced by a middle shift officer until about 7 p.m. Times may vary depending on the time of the year, DiLuzio said, and the officers would already be on duty, only they will spend their time out of their vehicles.

"I used to walk the beat years ago," DiLuzio said, in the 1990s when beats were still used, "and I used to park my car right at Main and Market: Smack-dab in the middle of downtown.

"Cops on foot and on horseback are damn fine crime prevention," DiLuzio said, stressing the importance of officers getting to know the community intimately. "You have to know the business owners, and you have to know the problems and what's going on in the neighborhood."

Reinforcing the core of that principle, Deputy Chief Todd Repsher said young recruits and graduates often want to be out chasing bad guys, but officers learn over time that just making somebody's day better is a more important part of the job than making arrests.

DiLuzio said the goal is to get more regular shifts, rather than overtime, during peak hours and on Friday and Saturday nights, to improve safely and save money.

Additionally for 2014, DiLuzio said he will be personally involved with engaging Blockwatches, the new substation at 60 W. Broad St. is now open, and coordination continues with the school district for next year to supply six school resource officers for the middle and high schools, who are paid for through U.S. Department of Justice grants.