THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410140192
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
The crime statistics in my neighborhood are going up, I'm happy to say.
I'm happy about it because that doesn't mean there's more crime. It means that more people are getting arrested for violations of local laws.
Thanks to the police department's Tactical Response Unit, it's getting harder and harder to ignore the law in Park View and West Park View.
Sometimes known as the SWAT team, the officers from the unit have worked the neighborhood for the past three months when they aren't out on special assignments that call for specific expertise.
Officer Frank Natal leads the forays into the streets and stops by the civic league meetings from time to time to tell us what's going on.
Natal and his fellow officers have a low tolerance for anybody who breaks any law.
``We have a 100 percent conviction record so far,'' he reported last week.
Many of those convictions were in drug cases.
The only person who got by with any lenience was an 11-year-old who held up a pedestrian with a plastic gun, Natal said.
``The courts wanted to give him a break because it was a first offense,'' Natal said. ``His mother seemed concerned and that was important.''
The police have been particularly tough on kids, operating on the theory that young people need to learn early as possible that they can't break laws without consequences.
They have even arrested juveniles shooting craps in the street.
Natal and other team members have used every law on the books, including the new open-container ordinance, which allows an officer to charge a person drinking on the streets without actually seeing that person take a swig.
``They'll stop drinking when they see you coming,'' Natal said. ``But we still can cite them for having an open bottle.''
Natal has good news for those of us whose ears have not been destroyed by rock and rap. The officers nabbed several people who were blasting their stereos - both mobile and stationary - and went to court on violations of the noise ordinance.
Judge Archie Elliott fined each one of them $100 and costs.
Hooray for Judge Elliott! His maximum punishment for destroying the neighborhood peace - and their own ears - may cause the defendants to think twice about the volume of their radios and tapes.
Having the officers around on a fairly regular basis has been comforting for those of us who sometimes feel the world is being overrun with uncaring, amoral people.
``There're a lot of people out there who don't care,'' Natal said.
For those who don't care about the quality of life in their block or their neighborhood, citations and arrests might be the only answers. Everybody shouldn't have to suffer because of a few scofflaws.
Natal and his fellow officers are a wonderful asset to this city. They have been conscientious about enforcing laws. They have not been tolerant of small offenses, a temptation because they know they have to spend time in court for those cases as well as for the big ones. And there's not much glory in arresting people for loud radios or even for shooting craps on the street.
A majority of Park View and West Park View residents have been eager to cooperate with the officers and that has been a plus. Natal and his boss, Sgt. Karl Morrisette, have visited on a regular basis and kept everybody informed about neighborhood problems.
By communicating with the residents, the officers, in turn, have been able to gather helpful information.
The presence of the special unit in our neighborhoods has led to a mutual respect between the officers and most of the residents.
The officers at this point seem as interested as most homeowners in squelching negative activity. The officers are as happy as the citizens when they are able to make significant gains against lawbreakers.
Their concentrated activity might cause our statistics to go up in the short run. But, in the long run, their efforts could make the difference in the future of these neighborhoods that can make or break whatever the city tries to do in the downtown area. MEMO: Whether you agree or disagree, The Currents would like to hear from you.
Send your thoughts to The Currents, 307 County St., Suite 100,
Portsmouth, Va. 23704-3702, or fax us at 446-2607.
by CNB