Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 18, 1995 TAG: 9511200027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fed up with trespassers and other troublemakers, residents of public housing developments slipped on red T-shirts Friday morning and occupied three rows of a Roanoke courtroom.
The bright shirts, with "No Trespassing" on the front and "Citizens for Safer Neighborhoods" on the back, were intended to get the attention of both the lawbreakers and the judge who was sentencing the trespassers.
"I bet you didn't know the redcoats were coming," Julia West quipped to court-goers as she used a cane to make her way into the General District courtroom.
Outsiders suspected of dealing drugs and causing other problems in the city's housing developments are often charged with trespassing - an offense that seldom brings a jail sentence unless the person is a repeat offender.
About 20 residents of Lincoln Terrace, Melrose Towers, Morningside Manor, Hurt Park and Hunt Manor were hoping Friday that their presence would influence Judge John Apostolou to get tough on the trespassers.
"I don't mean to criticize the judge," said West, a resident of Melrose Towers. "But we're just here to let him know that we do want law and order in the development."
Did it work? Apostolou sentenced one trespasser to three months in jail, but dismissed charges against another because there was a question about whether she knew she had been barred from a complex.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Teaster told the group after court that he is not sure that judges' sentences are influenced by people who monitor court cases. "But it gives us some moral support and backup that really helps a lot," he said.
And the group made an impact in another way: People arrested on minor charges who would not normally ask for a lawyer were requesting one on Friday.
"You succeeded in intimidating a lot of people," Teaster said.
The group plans to return to court and support the efforts of COPE, a community policing effort in the Roanoke Police Department that concentrates on building ties with residents of high-crime areas.
Lt. Doug Allen, who heads the COPE unit, said people arrested for trespassing know that their cases will not be taken seriously.
"It's a joke to them, and the court's a joke to them," Allen said. "This is the community's way of passively letting the court system know that they are not pleased with what is going on."
by CNB