They pound the pavement in a blue suit and stick out a firm hand to knock on students’ doors in hopes of giving them a little packet of information.

The Charleston Police Department began going door to door last semester to inform students about city ordinances and supply packets outlining what the ordinances mean.

The community police program that intended to inform students about city ordinances has experienced success in the last semester and will continue in future years, said Lt. Roger Cunningham of the Charleston Police Department.

The program initially began last semester as an effort by the police department to inform college students living on their own for the first time about city ordinances for trash pickup, littering, parking in yards, alcohol possession, alcohol sales and indoor/outdoor furniture.

The feeling that Cunningham gets while working the streets is that the work of his police officers has paid off because he has given less citations. Although Cunningham has not yet gotten exact figures on how many fewer citations he has given, he said that the voluntary compliance of students with city ordinances has been better.

“We feel that the program has been successful,” Cunningham said.

In the future, the police department would like to expand this program to deal with the issue of kegs as well as loud parties also, Cunningham said.

Residents can receive fines anywhere from $75 to $750 for breaking city ordinances, depending on what the city attorney decides, he said.

The reason why the police department decided to focus their efforts on students is because many of them have not lived on their own before and other towns do not have the same ordinances as Charleston does.

To decide which houses and neighborhoods to visit, Cunningham said the police department looked at houses they have given citations to in the past and neighborhoods that rented heavily to students.

“When you work in a town long enough, you know the party houses,” Cunningham said.

The police officers try to talk to students as they are beginning to move into their houses or apartments so that they will know the information before it becomes a problem.

Cunningham said he tries to send two police officers on day and evening shift to talk to students for at least the first two weeks of the semester. After that, the police department goes on a case by case basis depending on where they are having problems.

Another goal that the police department would like to accomplish with this program is to renew trust among students in the police department, Cunningham said. The police department would like to let students know that they are not just “out to get them,” but they are here to help them.

With this program, students and police officers can talk in a non-confrontational type manner, Cunningham said.

Police officers will also speak to groups about city ordinances or anyone can go to the police station and pick up the information, Cunningham said.