THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210191
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Everybody's a stranger when neighbors don't know each other. And, as people have come and gone over the years in Olde Towne, many residents today have not connected with the community.
One couple, who moved to Dinwiddie Street from Virginia Beach last Halloween, decided to change strangers into friends by spearheading efforts to start a neighborhood watch.
Steven and Charlotte Miceli got the idea after being accosted near their own front door.
``It's often crime of opportunity here,'' Steven Miceli said. ``The general feeling to stay inside after dark is going to grow if we don't get a watch going.''
The couple ``fell in love with Olde Towne'' after he moved his ship management business here from Virginia Beach in 1993, Miceli said.
``We're originally from New Orleans, and this place has the same character,'' he said. ``We're still in love with it.''
And, he added, Olde Towne ``truly is the best kept secret in the world.''
Miceli said he and his wife want Olde Towne to stay as nice as it is and they believe a neighborhood watch will help accomplish that.
``We're going to create a presence on the streets,'' he said.
The watch will start in August with foot patrols - two or three citizens walking around with flashlights and perhaps two-way radios.
The first meeting a month ago attracted 18 people. The second gathering, a cookout, drew many more and, by night's end, a total of 109 residents had signed up.
``That's about one-fourth of the homes represented,'' Miceli said. ``That's enough to have an impact.''
That's enough for the Police Department to train and certify the group. Next comes a session for block captains and an outline of the area for street patrols.
``We'll start patrols in August,'' Miceli said.
Support for the organization has been great, he said. For the cookout, Allied Rentals donated use of the equipment and Sam's Wholesale Club donated the food. The Olde Towne Civic League has contributed $500 in startup money.
``We have no dues and so the next event we have will be a fund-raiser,'' he said.
A recent incident in which several residents chased and captured a man who had attacked a resident on Court Street perhaps will give impetus to the movement.
``That's a perfect demonstration of how a neighborhood watch works,'' Miceli said. ``That's the way it is supposed to work in a community.''
A neighborhood watch organization will expand on the feelings that prompted the residents in the recent case.
A watch organization allows people to get to know each other.
``That's when they start looking out for each other,'' he said.
Back in 1979, when I moved to Portsmouth, I rented an apartment on North Street and never thought twice about walking half a block from a parking space when I got home from covering Chesapeake City Council in the wee hours of the morning.
When you walked on the street at night, you met the neighbors. Everybody felt secure. Nobody ever got robbed or attacked.
Everybody seemed to know each other - at least by sight if not by name.
But, along the way, things changed. The evils of the world began to move in on the neighborhood. Landlords who acquired some of the large structures when the economy went sour began to rent to a highly transient population. Many of them don't seem to care a whit about community and neighborhood.
With that gradual change, Olde Towne lost a little of its glamour and charm. But, fortunately for Portsmouth, many homeowners in Olde Towne and in many other neighborhoods are determined not to give up the streets.
``Transients will destroy any neighborhood,'' Miceli said. ``They don't care because they know they'll be moving on. We must organize a core group to keep Olde Towne safe for those who do care.''
KEYWORDS: OLDE TOWN NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH by CNB