THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120408
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER AND JON FRANK, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
Reported crime may be declining here, but Norfolk still needs to increase its police force by 44 percent, says former chief Henry P. Henson and the Norfolk Neighborhood Crime Prevention Coalition.
And, coalition members are willing to pay more taxes to cover hiring costs.
How much? Norfolk officials estimate it would cost at least $9.9 million a year for 306 more officers, as proposed by the coalition. The city now has an authorized force of 687.
The cost equates to a 14-cent hike in the city's $1.38 real-estate tax rate. That would be $112 a year more in taxes on an $80,000 house.
However, Mayor Paul D. Fraim said the City Council probably will approve adding only 17 more officers. He hopes money for that will come from the federal government under the Clinton administration's crime bill.
Norfolk does not need 306 more officers because of declining crime and probable opposition among taxpayers, he said.
``The numbers don't support it,'' Fraim said. ``And our citizens will not support higher taxes.''
On Tuesday, Police Chief Melvin C. High announced that reported crime from major offenses in Norfolk dropped 10.5 percent in 1994, the fourth consecutive yearly decline. He credited community-policing efforts, including the volunteer work of citizens.
But while applauding the report, leaders of the crime-prevention coalition contend that crime still occurs too often and there's an over-riding perception that Norfolk is not safe. More police are needed to increase visibility of patrols, deter criminals and to comfort residents, they said.
Coalition leaders, part of community policing, say 17 more police officers will amount to another Band-Aid. The group consists largely of block-watch organizations.
``If we were attacked by a foreign enemy that is as lethal as the crime problem has become, nobody would debate increasing taxes to fight back. They'd just go ahead and do it,'' said Henson, who retired in 1993 after 38 years on the force.
Henson said he will be sounding out Norfolk civic leagues on the proposal, beginning tonight.
``I won't suspect that anyone is against an all-out effort to eliminate crime. But it will cost a lot, and the big question is whether people will be willing to pay,'' he said. ``If not, we have to be willing to tolerate a certain level of crime.''
Or perception of crime.
Crime-prevention coalition members do not dispute the declining rate. But they contend that raw numbers are still too high and fear of crime remains a major problem.
``Sure, crime has gone down. The police are doing a good job and the citizens are doing a good job,'' said Willie Barnes, president of the crime prevention coalition. ``But the numbers were very high from the beginning. We still think the raw numbers need to come down a lot.''
Henson said he believes some anti-crime efforts are only pushing criminals from one neighborhood to another.
``Reducing crime 10.5 percent is great, but what we're saying is, `Instead of each year taking a bite out of crime, let's go all out and eat it up,' '' Henson said. ``People in many neighborhoods are afraid to step outside at night time,'' he said.
Crime, or the public perception of it, also hurts Norfolk's ability to attract new residents and economic development. ``People are afraid to go downtown after dark. We have numerous residents in our neighborhood who refuse to go,'' said Carl Meredith, president of the Lafayette-Winona Civic League. ``They hear negative first-hand accounts.''
Crime-rate trends often are debated in law-enforcement circles.
For example, Hampton Police Chief Pat Minetti pointed to a decrease in the reported crime rate for two years. But Minetti agreed that public fears that crime is increasing persist. Largely, he said, it is because of what is happening rather than how often it happens.
``Perception is reality,'' Minetti said, ``and the kinds of crimes that are being committed, and the degree and magnitude of violence are unprecedented. The kind of crimes that a couple of decades ago were few and far between now are regular.''
Also, the way statistics are gathered distort the crime picture, Minetti said. Cities base their crime statistics on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, which increasingly are coming under criticism for what many observers believe is an inaccurate spin.
``If you have a child in school who forcefully takes a lunch bucket from another student, that carries the same weight as a bank robbery,'' said Minetti. ``That is ridiculous.''
Gary Kleck, a criminology professor at Florida State University, said in a telephone interview that most of UCR numbers are worthless in assessing whether crime is increasing. Many crimes, he said, simply are not reported, especially in areas where crime is prevalent and police departments are poorly staffed.
Exceptions are statistics for homicide, robbery and motor vehicle theft. They usually are accurate.
``Ignore the rest,'' Kleck said. ``They are unusable.''
Uniform Crime Report crimes are murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary larceny and auto theft.
Kleck said community policing and similar initiatives have little if any impact on crime. A better crime fighter, he said, is a good chamber of commerce that brings businesses and jobs into the region.
Minetti, however, believes that community policing concepts should get credit for helping to fight crime. These programs, Minetti said, have put citizens in closer contact with police departments, breaking down walls and putting more eyes and ears on the streets.
There also are those who say that many crimes still go unreported.
``A lot of people don't even bother to call in reports - break-ins, even assaults,'' said Tony Mitchell, a Norfolk crime-prevention officer. ``They don't even see a need to report things. That's the biggest thing you hear. It happens quite often.''
For example, an executive with an auto-parts retail chain recently told Norfolk police that employees at one store stopped reporting shoplifting incidents because they happened so frequently.
Mitchell said he met with the chain's store managers, and he hopes the crimes will be reported.
Other police and civic leaders contend an increasing number of residents and businesses are taking time to report crime and join anti-crime programs. ``Because of community policing, the fear of reporting crime is down,'' said Capt. Gregory Banks of the Norfolk Police Department's central records division. ``My word processor is overworked. We're hard pressed to stay up with the calls. People are not discouraged. They're reporting anything and everything.''
In Park Place, a low- to moderate-income area plagued by crime in recent years, block-watch groups are growing stronger, said George Vincent, an organizer. Still, Vincent agrees with coalition members in saying Norfolk needs 306 more police. He'd also be willing to pay higher taxes, Vincent said. < ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
COMMUNITY POLICING
Norfolk's Police Assisted Community Enforcement program pulls
together police, service agencies and residents to solve
neighborhood problems that lead to crime. PACE includes:
112 block security programs organized in the last 4 years
more than 40 officers on bicycles to make them more accessible to
citizens
officers in each of Norfolk's six sectors, equipped with cellular
phones, pagers and business cards. The object is to make it easy for
citizens to meet the officers and to reach them directly.
a program to lend engraving tools to people who want to mark
their valuables as part of Operation Identification
Neighborhood Watch and Citizens Patrol programs, in which
citizens are encouraged to be the ``eyes and ears of the police
department.''
Neighborhood Environmental Assessment Teams which evaluate
problems like overgrown lots and vacant houses that may contribute
to crime.
Neighborhood anti-crime efforts inified under the Norfolk
Neighborhood Crime Prevention Coalition.
Crime Line, published weekly, alerts citizens to watch for
suspects.
KEYWORDS: CRIME NORFOLK DECREASE NORFOLK POLICE HIRING by CNB