BEAUMONT -- Chief of Police Frank Coffin on Monday responded to concerns from a newly formed police watchdog group, saying the department wants to hear from citizens about the goings-on in their neighborhoods -- even when it means hearing complaints.

"The police department is staffed with a whole bunch of folks who try to do a good job day in and day out," Coffin said. "If we are not doing something right, we need to know about it because it is not OK."

The meeting was the first of the Community Access Committee, which aims to create a dialogue between the community and the Beaumont police.

Allen Lee, a community activist and committee member, said the group wants to work with the police department to improve communication.

"We are not here to tell the chief how to do his job," Lee said. "We are here to inform him of concerns."

One of those concerns came from 55-year-old Gwenalyn Westbrooks, who says the crime in her Charlton-Pollard neighborhood is out of control.

"These kids have guns. We are under siege," Westbrooks said. "What are we to do?"

Coffin said it is vital for citizens to inform the police in such cases and said he would work with Westbrooks to resolve the neighborhood's crime issue.

"The police department greases the wheel that squeaks," Coffin said.

Roberto Flores, president of the Beaumont chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), said the group must address parental involvement if it wants to cut crime.

"Where are the parents?" Flores said. "Parental guidance has gone down the drain and then the only thing we can do is come to a meeting and blame police officers for this and that."

Lee said the committee will work to bring more after-school programs to the city.

"You get these young people something to do and you keep them off the street," he said.

About three dozen people showed up for the meeting at the Beaumont Civic Center. The committee plans to meet on the second Monday of each month and meetings will be open to the public, Lee said. Because of the holiday season, the committee will not meet in December, he said.

Jack Lawrence, a Beaumont attorney and a member of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he hopes the committee will give way to more defined written policies about how the police should conduct themselves in tricky situations.

"It's the gray areas we are concerned about mostly," Lawrence said.

The committee's creation was spurred by an incident at the Sweetgum Apartments in the 2600 block of Sweetgum Lane on Sept. 28 in which some residents felt they were mistreated by police.

This incident was a talking point on Monday. But the committee also expressed concern about police response to the mentally ill, call response time and neighborhood watch groups. Members also asked questions about the inner workings of the department.

Coffin explained officers work 10-hour shifts and that the minimum staffing of each shift is 13 units, for example. He said the exact number of officers on duty is dependent on the time of day and the day of the week.

The department tracks call response time closely and Coffin said crime and disorder is reduced in neighborhoods with watch groups.

Committee members suggested the department was lacking funds and might need more officers, but Coffin said the issue of resource allocation is a difficult one.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that our budget is inadequate," Coffin said. "There are times when we go from call to call, but there are also times when things are slow and we have officers basically running over each other."