Peoria Standard

The East Bluff community will be served by the Peoria Police Resource Center that opened in the old Kroger shopping plaza that’s now home to Heartland Healthcare.

Police Chief Loren Marion said in a Facebook video in July that Heartland called him to invite the department to join them at that location about two years ago. The result was the grand opening of the resource center at 2321 N Wisconsin Ave. on July 8.

Marion said in the post that Chris Johnson, the Focused Deterrence project manager, will work out of the resource center several days a week for several hours at a time. This location won’t be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the chief said.

Peoria Chief Loren Marion | Peoria Police Facebook

“However, it will be accessible by the officers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The importance of the resource center is we will use it as a way to reach the community,” Marion said in the Facebook video.

Johnson will offer the East Bluff residents help with matters including getting a driver’s license, birth certificate, GED, job and computer training, employment opportunities, mental health, alcohol and drug treatment, emergency counseling, tutoring assistance and food pantry resources, Marion said in the post.

“A lot of things people like myself take for granted, the residents will need those types of services to succeed in their community,” Marion said in the Facebook video.

The opening was timely and appropriate with current events, Dr. Gregg Stoner, Heartland’s chief medical officer, said in the Facebook video.

“If there is such a thing as preventative policing, it will happen right here,” Stoner said in the Facebook video.

East Bluff residents who feel uncomfortable meeting with officers at their homes can arrange for appointments at the resource center, he said. They can call the non-emergency number for the Peoria Police Department at 309-673-4521.