THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603230086
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Three more areas of the city will be brought into the community policing fold by the end of the month, and informational meetings for two of the communities have been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday..
The Downtown, Midtown and Cavalier Manor areas will bring the Police Department about halfway to its goal of having the whole city served by the Neighborhood Enhancement and Action Teams program - called NEAT - by October.
Police Chief Dennis A. Mook will explain the community policing program to residents, and assigned officers will be introduced.
A meeting for residents and businesses in the Midtown area will be at 7 p.m. Monday at Willett Hall, 3701 Willett Drive.
Cavalier Manor area residents will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at New Mount Vernon Baptist Church, 3555 Victory Blvd.
A meeting has not been scheduled yet for Downtown, which includes Olde Towne and Olde Towne South. But Officer Mike Day has been assigned to that area.
Joseph R. Wright, president of the Cavalier Manor Police-Community Relations Committee, said he expects as many as 500 people to attend his neighborhood's meeting. Wright's neighborhood watch already works closely with police officers and has a roster of 100 members working eight-hour shifts.
The organization has driven out much of the drug element that used to take over street corners, Wright said, but he hopes the NEAT program will do even more.
``Once they blanket the entire city with these officers,'' he said, ``the crime is just going to have to move to another city.''
The Cavalier Manor community policing area will include the surrounding neighborhoods of Crystal Lake, Lake Forest, Victory Manor, Lincoln Gardens, Bonneville Apartments and Charlestown Townhouses.
The Midtown area will include the neighborhoods of Port Norfolk, Lynn Shores, Merrimac Point, Forest Park, River Park, Mount Hermon, Mount Hermon Village, Glensheallah, Waterview, Westhaven, Westhaven Park, Howard Homes, Grove Park, Kingman Heights, Oregon Acres, MidCity and Howard Homes.
Anne Green, chairman of the city's Crime Prevention Steering Committee and a Port Norfolk resident, said she hopes for at least 200 people at that meeting.
``I'm real excited about it,'' she said. ``We've had . . . graffiti and stolen cars and all just in Port Norfolk alone. I'm just looking forward to them coming in and being beneficial to us.'' MEMO: For more information on the program or meetings, call 558-2822. ILLUSTRATION: Map
by CNB