Kenosha police officers make "infomercial" for Neighborhood Watch

KENOSHA (WITI) -- Some Kenosha police officers are stepping in front of the cameras to help fight crime -- producing an "infomercial" to promote its Neighborhood Watch program.

Dennis Walsh is a "Safety Officer" with the Kenosha Police Department -- but in the video, he is "Ken Osha."

For the past several years, "Ken Osha" and a couple of police officers have been moonlighting to produce dozens of entertaining, yet informational videos.

In the videos, along with Crime Prevention officers Ron Francis and Jeff Wamboldt, Walsh covers topics like Halloween Safety and Neighborhood Watch.

"I saw infomercials, and I thought, 'Hey, you know what? I think we could use that and sell safety messages through infomercials!'" Walsh said.

"The old, professional police model from L.A. where -- 'just the facts Ma'am, I'll take it from here' -- that doesn't apply anymore," Francis said.

Francis says the videos are part of a comprehensive media-outreach effort.

"What we have to do as policemen or as a police department is give these folks the tools to keep themselves safe, and then hope that we've done that well enough that they feel comfortable helping us out when we have to solve a crime," Francis said.

Not to mention, helping out with topical ideas for future productions.

"We ask other officers for input -- the public in general, our supervisors -- just about anybody we'll take input from. If you have any ideas, let us know," Wamboldt said.

The set that they use to shoot the videos for the Kenosha Police Department is actually space that was donated by the Downtown Rotary of Kenosha. The lights, the cameras, the editing equipment were also covered through donations, and the folks with the police department say that gives you an indication of just how much community support they have.