DORAL (CBS4) – If you’ve ever wondered how to get help making you neighborhood better, safer, and more free of crime, you might want to consider asking a cop, Wednesday, CBS4 and some South Florida police departments are giving  you a chance as police officers take your phone calls as part of Project Broken Window.

Officers from a number of departments manned the telephones to take calls from CBS4 viewers who wanted to know more about how to deal with unoccupied homes, code violations, broken street lights, and other neighborhood problems police believe contribute to crime.

The officers provided information about where people could get answers in their community, as well as general crime prevention tips.

The CBS4 Project Broken Window, in connection with South Florida police departments, is based on the premise that homes and properties in disrepair invite crime. The idea is for police to have a zero-tolerance policy about ‘abandoned’ properties, pushing for cleanup of properties when possible, and demolition where needed, to improve the appearance of neighborhoods.

The experts on the panel also addressed questions about how people can protect themselves, their family, and their property against crime.

A growing group of police departments have joined with CBS4 in Project Broken Window.