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What she heard was anything but a promise for more police presence downtown.

“People want a police officer on every square mile of Johnson City, and ladies and gentlemen, you all don’t pay enough taxes to have an officer on every square mile,” Johnson City Police Chief John Lowry said.

Furthermore, the downtown area doesn’t need it, he said.

“I don’t mean to sound argumentative, but you don’t have the crime down here to justify more police officers. Downtown Johnson City is one of the safest places you can be,” Lowry said. “I don’t think it’s the answer for you down here to have an officer assigned to downtown 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We’re not the end all, be all of everything.”

While it might not have as large of an amount of crime as some might think, what downtown does appear to have is a perception of crime — something the DNA organization is working to eliminate.

“The perception is that downtown isn’t safe,” said Steve Scheu, a downtown business owner. “That’s a problem when my wife wants to ask some friends to come down to First Fridays and they don’t want to come because of the perception.”

In an effort to show others that downtown is indeed a safe, enjoyable area of the city, DNA members are working to create a Downtown Neighborhood Watch and encourage all individuals with a stake in the downtown area to help it flourish by promoting its positive sides.

“We all feel safe here,” said Angela Vachon, past president of the organization and a downtown building owner. “We want everyone else to see that downtown is safe.”

While more police presence doesn’t appear to be in downtown’s future, Lowry did say that working with the police already in the area will help everyone involved.

“We cannot do everything ourselves,” he said. “But if we all are going in the same direction, there is no end to what we can accomplish to make Johnson City a better, safer place.”