THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504160049
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
On a spring day in 1968, Alfred Bell heard that a young woman waiting for an early morning bus in the East End of Newport News had been raped and beaten.
The news hit Bell hard, especially when he realized the attack had occurred within blocks of his East End home.
``When I heard about that girl, I said to myself, `Tomorrow morning, I'm going out there,' '' Bell remembered recently.
That's the day Alfred Bell became the inspiration for a citizens group called the Minutemen, which formed 30 years later to stop a series of attacks on young school girls in the city's East End.
But back in 1968, Bell was just ``The Man with the Stick'' as he ventured into the morning light of Newport News to protect the defenseless.
Today, the 71-year-old Bell is known by that description to hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women and children who live or pass through the city's East End.
Standing at the corner of 35th Street and Orcutt Avenue, Bell guards school children and other early risers who wait for buses or walk along shadowy, poorly lighted streets. Bell carries a 30-inch, hardwood stick for protection. And he's not afraid to use it.
``I've had to swing it before, and I'll swing it again, if need be,'' Bell said.
Today, dozens of volunteer Minutemen patrol from 16th Street to Denbigh. They wear bright yellow jackets and hats. They don't carry sticks, but they occasionally wield yellow flashlights as they make their rounds. All of the equipment was paid for with a state Community-of-Caring grant, said Huntington Middle School Principal Terry L. Cline.
The goal is simple: To reclaim a portion of urban Hampton Roads and make it safe again for everyone.
``That's the only way we are going to retake the community and make it the positive place we want it to be,'' said Joe Edwards, a Huntington Middle School administrator who helped start the Minutemen.
The Minutemen assume their posts on street corners for about one hour each morning and one hour each afternoon. Sometimes they work in pairs. Sometimes alone. They range in age from 27 to Bell's 71.
The impetus for the Minutemen is similar to the one that got Bell going almost 30 years ago. A series of attacks on young girls in the city's East End has been terrorizing children and their parents. Nineteen teenage and preteen females have been assaulted since 1990. No one has been arrested despite a variety of law enforcement strategies instituted by the Newport News Police Department.
Edwards, a graduate of Huntington Middle School, is one of the people who Bell protected years ago. He remembered ``The Man with the Stick'' when he was assigned to his old school at the beginning of the 1994-1995 school year.
Edwards had several goals. Tops on his list was the protection of Huntington students on the streets. Most of the attacks on young girls have been at or near school bus stops. He also wanted to get the community involved.
``We had an open meeting at Huntington and Mr. Bell attended,'' Edwards said. ``That's when I realized that this man has been out there on the corner for years. What we needed was to get more people involved to help this man.''
Once it crystalized, Edwards said, people began rallying around the Minutemen concept. More than 30 people in the neighborhood around Huntington Middle School signed up to participate.
``We came up with the name because we wanted to communicate to people that we would be close enough to provide help instantly,'' Edwards said.
The Minutemen idea has spread throughout the city.
``We are trying to get neighborhoods back almost to the way they were when I was growing up,'' said 40-year-old Newport News native Teresa Brown, who works as a Minuteman and is the mother of a 6-year-old boy. ``We walked to school and no one bothered us. Even if you walked alone.''
Brown said that the Minutemen volunteers don't try to be policemen or vigilantes. They just want to be visible and show that the East End is filled with people who care.
``Parents certainly feel better that someone is out there with their children,'' Brown said.
Cline agreed that intervening when crimes occur is not really the goal of the program.
``They are there to serve as a deterrent,'' the Huntington principal said.
The program seems to be working. From October through March, there were no attacks in the East End.
But the threat posed by the East End attacker is not over. After that six months of peace, a 15-year-old was assaulted about three blocks from Huntington on April 7. Police are looking for a black male in his early 20s.
``One of these days, he's going to slip up,'' said Minuteman Paul Macklin. ``And we'll be there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
Alfred Bell, 71, was the inspiration for the formation of the
Minutemen, a community watch group. He is aided by Alberta Anderson,
70.
Map
KEN WRIGHT/Staff
KEYWORDS: NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAMS by CNB