The Charleston Police Department wants residents of the West Side to be nosy.
"The key is to keep calling," said Charleston Chief of Police Brent Webster. "That's the key."
Webster and nine other members of the Charleston Police Department held a West Side Community Meeting at Stonewall Jackson Middle School, Thursday evening.
During the meeting the officers heard compliments and complaints and updated about 40 people in attendance on police activity in the area.
Sgt. James "Tyke" Hunt, gave an update on some of the more recent issues on the West Side.
Hunt said that while investigators have an idea of the identity of the man who was killed in a fire on the West Side this week, they don't have enough evidence to release a name.
Police are waiting on dental tests to come back before they release that information.
Right now, detectives don't believe it was a homicide, but they are still investigating.
Hunt also gave an update on whether Boondocks Bar and Grill will be able to keep its liquor license.
Hunt said it "doesn't look good" for Boondocks Bar and Grill getting its liquor license back. The bar had its license suspended in May after a man was killed on the property.
Webster addressed the difficulty in combating violent crime.
"We do what we can to prevent it," Webster said. "Most of the violent crimes are impulsive."
Charleston police recently lost one of the tools that it uses to combat violent crime, he said, when the Legislature passed a bill allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
"It's a game changer," Webster said. "Before, we could use that suspicion to stop people."
Webster said that the department is figuring out how they can legally handle suspicious situations involving firearms.
They encouraged people to call if someone has a firearm and looks suspicious.
"I still don't believe you can be drunk out of your mind with a weapon," Webster said.
Sgt. Paul Perdue encouraged people to organize neighborhood watch groups on the West Side.
He said that there are currently six active neighborhood watch groups in the area and gave the people in attendance a form that they could use to create a group.
"The West Side is getting really strong with groups spreading out and that's really positive," Perdue said.
The officers also took complaints from the audience. One woman talked about how landlords weren't being vigilant about who they rented property to, as long as the tenants paid the rent. She mentioned a house that had burned twice on Stuart Street.
There were more compliments to the department than complaints, as citizens thanked the officers for their work.
"The West Side gets a bad rap," Webster said. "There's issues - there's a lot of issues - but it's not every night."
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.