THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 1, 1994 TAG: 9405280185
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940601 LENGTH: SMITHFIELD
Howell talked to the boy and ordered him to write the phrase, `I will not fight on the school bus,' multiple times and return his work at a specific time and day to Howell at the department.
{REST} Howell said he had forgotten about the boy's assignment until he received a call to return to the department to meet someone.
When he got there, the boy handed over the completed work with a smile on his face, Howell recalls.
Howell rewarded the boy with a junior police badge and a handshake.
But that's only one small example of the community work Howell has done through the Smithfield Police Department.
Howell, who was raised on a farm in Surry County, was named Hampton Roads Officer of the Year recently by the Tidewater Chapter of the American Society for Industrial Security.
The award recognizes officers who have gone beyond the call of duty to stop crime in their community, said Andrew M. Casey, a Newport News member of the awards committee.
Fifteen nominations were made from law enforcement agencies in Hampton Roads. An awards committee selected four winners who were honored May 18 with a buffet dinner at the Fort Monroe Officer's Club in Hampton.
``It's easy to react when a crime has been committed,'' Casey said. ``It's tougher to know what to do before the fact. This award recognizes those who have tried to reduce crime - `To Protect and Serve.' ''
Smithfield Police Chief Mark A. Marshall said he nominated Howell for his community work with four west-end Smithfield neighborhoods.
In 1988, Smithfield police answered 300 service calls. In 1993, calls had increased to 3,500, most of which came from the four areas covered by Howell.
``We were getting the loitering-type calls,'' Marshall recalled. ``The public intoxications and gunshots fired. And a large percentage of the people who were the problem weren't even from the county. But they were taking over the neighborhoods.
``There were indications that residents had hunkered down - shut their doors and blinds to these people. We knew we had a problem, but the question was what do we do?''
Marshall said the answer was to get apartment management in these four neighborhoods involved and assign an officer to work with the residents.
Howell was assigned to work with apartment managers and residents last October. He has been coordinating and meeting with several neighborhood watch groups to discuss areas of concern and possible solutions, Marshall said.
Since Howell began his assignment, Marshall said there has been a noticeable decrease in criminal activity at the four locations.
``In addition,'' Marshall wrote in his nomination of Howell, ``the community perception of the role of police and its function in the community has been elevated in a positive direction.
``His personal approach, rather than as an agent of a government entity, has forged a bridge of trust that previously did not exist in those housing projects.''
Barbara Parker, manager of Covenant Place, agrees.
Before Howell began working at Covenant Place, Parker said there were problems with loitering. And residents, all 62 or older, complained of people ringing door bells at all hours of the night.
Parker said there was also one drug incident, but the tenant involved was asked to move out.
``Residents have become more aware of what to do when they see something that doesn't look right. And they're aware of what to look for,'' Parker said.
As a result, Parker said reports of non-residents coming onto the apartment grounds and walking around have decreased.
``The apartment ground are quiet. There's no loitering now,'' she said.
``The people in these apartments have to unite, to work with the police department,'' Howell said. ``They have to be the eyes and ears of the police department.''
``A police department is only as good as the people it serves,'' Howell added.
Howell began his law enforcement career as a non-paid security guard.
``I got into law enforcement without the pay, and it just grew on me,'' he said. ``It wasn't about having the gun or the badge, it was about dealing with people.''
Howell joined the Surry Sheriff's Department in 1984. In 1991 he left Surry to join the Charles City Sheriff's Department as a narcotics officer. Sixteen months later, he came to Smithfield.
Howell said part of the problem that every police department is dealing with today is the thinking of today's youth.
``Kids have the attitude that tomorrow is promised to them,'' Howell said. ``Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. If you're blessed by God, someday you'll get old,'' he said.
``Emptying their hands of guns is not the answer,'' Howell said. ``We need to be able to fill their minds with something positive.''
by CNB