THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610050194
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, NAOMI AOKI AND TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 274 lines
Last summer Georgetta Flood, 78, was afraid to go out on her back porch, for good reason. A gunman had shot two bullets through her Swanson Homes apartment - one piercing her back door, the other shattering a side kitchen window.
Now, the public housing resident says she feels safer. She is no longer afraid to stand on her front steps, watching children play dodgeball, thanks to a police officer who walks though her back yard regularly.
``I thought about moving one time, but it's getting better,'' Flood said. ``If the police continue to come through, I think it will get better.''
Flood has reason for optimism: For the first time in 13 years, the violent crime rate is down in Portsmouth.
And although Portsmouth still has the highest violent crime rate in the area, it is dropping faster than in other Hampton Roads cities.
For the first six months this year, there were 25 percent fewer violent crimes in Portsmouth than for the same period last year, according to a Virginian-Pilot computer analysis of police incident reports.
That means there were about 150 fewer rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. Homicide remained the same: 13 for the first six months of 1996 and 1995.
What's more, residents say they feel safer.
They feel better, in part, because they have started nightly neighborhood patrols, expanded neighborhood watch groups and civic leagues, and are working more closely with police to help prevent and solve crimes.
For example, Eddie Webb lives in Prentis Park, one of Portsmouth's worst areas for violent crime, but he refuses to hide behind locked doors. Instead, Webb spends his days working with neighborhood kids, bringing them to his lawn care business and encouraging them to stay out of trouble.
``Children are my main concern,'' Webb said. ``I try to teach them about business and ethics, what not to do and what to do.''
All across Portsmouth, residents are working to take back their neighborhoods. Renewed partnerships between residents and police are also making it tougher for crime to thrive.
The Portsmouth City Council has increased the number of police officers over the past two years, and citizens are coming out in record numbers to help fight crime.
In court, judges are setting bonds high in murder cases to keep purported killers behind bars, and prosecutors are working to get cases to court faster.
Until this year, Portsmouth had one of the worst crime rates in the nation, per capita:
Even if the drop in crime continues through the end of 1996, the violent crime rate will still be double what it was in 1983.
In 1993, Portsmouth had the country's 24th worst homicide rate.
In 1995, a record 37 homicides made Portsmouth the 14th-worst large city in the country for murder, according to an FBI report released this year. These statistics moved Portsmouth just ahead of such violence-prone cities as Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Portsmouth also had its highest violent-crime rate ever in 1995, with 1,408 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Portsmouth was the only city in South Hampton Roads in which there was a substantial increase in the violent crime rate from 1994 to 1995.
Shocked by these statistics, residents and city officials in January held their first Portsmouth Crime Summit. More than 400 people participated.
From this summit came recommendations - for increased police funding, a children's crime line to encourage interaction between youth and law enforcement, support for programs like Neighborhood Watch, DARE and community policing, and a return to the concept of reform schools for troubled youth.
A bill sponsored last winter by Portsmouth Del. Billy Moore now allows judges to deny bonds for drug kingpins, drug pushers arrested near schools, and suspects believed to be involved in gang murders, kidnappings or felony abductions if they have previous felony convictions.
Now, residents are tackling their city's crime problem head-on. They hope that this six-month drop means a real change.
But experts caution that declining crime rates over six months or a year don't necessarily indicate a long-term trend.
Kenneth R. McCreedy, coordinator of the criminal justice program at Ferrum College in southwest Virginia, said crime tends to be cyclical and ``fluctuate without any particular cause.''
``If crime goes up one year and down another, it doesn't necessarily mean anything significant is happening,'' McCreedy said. ``If it goes down for several years, you see a trend. But to see something go down for six months or even a year doesn't really mean much.''
It will take years of continued declines to determine whether Portsmouth's crime problem is truly on the mend. But residents say there is something tangible happening in their city: They feel a difference.
For example, a partnership between London Oaks residents, local police and the apartments' management has helped change the community's landscape.
In the first half of last year, 35 people were victims of murder, rape, robbery or serious assault in the Mount Hermon area, which includes London Oaks, a subsidized-housing community. But in the first six months of this year, violent crime dropped 43 percent in Mount Hermon.
``A year or so ago, our neighbors could not even sit on their front porches or in their yards,'' said Randell Wicks Sr., president of the London Oaks Tenant Association. ``Guys were running through here shooting like cowboys and Indians.''
Despite this drop, Mount Hermon still has one of the highest violent crime rates in the city. The illegal drug trade fuels much of the violent crime, Wicks said.
``People have come to grips with the reality that you can't actually get rid of the drug scene because it's prevalent,'' Wicks said. ``But you can get rid of it in your neighborhood. People realize that if you take an active role, things can change.''
Carol Edmonds, resident manager of the 296-unit complex, said management hired off-duty Portsmouth police officers as security guards six years ago, but changes started occurring after the same officers began to patrol the neighborhood, having adopted it as a special project.
Now, she said, ``we have the same 12 officers working in the community, so people become accustomed to seeing the same faces.''
Less-serious offenses, such as drug dealing, larceny and auto theft, also have dropped.
Anonymous phone calls and tips to police have led to several arrests. A revitalized tenant association with more than 100 participants has meant greater involvement from residents. It also means more interaction with police officers, who regularly attend meetings.
``People are not afraid to go outside, especially at nighttime, because they know they are secure,'' Edmonds said. ``And when they call for help from the Police Department, they always come.''
The change in London Oaks is not an isolated occurrence in Portsmouth. Many areas across the city have seen violent crime numbers drop.
Some of the most violence-prone places saw dramatic improvements in the first six months of this year. For example:
Around the municipal center, violent crime has dropped 54 percent.
In the Olde Towne area, it has dropped 29 percent.
In the downtown area along High Street, it has dropped 18 percent.
In Ida Barbour, a public-housing community near downtown, it has dropped 24 percent.
Why? Because people are working with police and each other. And their list of successes is long.
Police officers regularly walk the beat downtown, working with merchants to curb crime. A community police officer bicycles through his adopted neighborhood of Prentis Park, waving at residents on their front porches. And in Ida Barbour, residents watch for and report trespassers who bring drugs into the neighborhood.
``I feel like it's my neighborhood,'' said Police Officer D.K. Butler, a community officer who volunteered two years ago to patrol Ida Barbour. ``If you focus on one neighborhood, you can make a difference. I want to make Ida Barbour a home.''
Still notorious for crack sales and its open-air drug market, Ida Barbour is not what it used to be. Years ago, the streets were congested with cars as buyers lined up to buy crack cocaine and other drugs. Robberies, burglaries and gunfire were the norm. Residents were afraid, day and night.
Now, narcotics sweeps, regular visible patrols, undercover surveillance and other techniques have brought a change.
Butler is a big part of making sure that those positive changes stay in place. He patrols the neighborhood, in his patrol car and sometimes on foot, making sure he is visible, citing trespassers and making sure that residents know he is there to help.
``It's not just fighting crime out here,'' Butler said. ``It's an uphill battle getting people involved.
``I can't be out in Ida Barbour 24 hours a day. I can't be out there seven days a week. . . . People living in the neighborhood know more than I do.''
A large hurdle Butler faced was that, historically, many residents in public housing mistrusted police, especially white officers, Butler said.
Butler, who is white, was born in Portsmouth but grew up in upstate New York. He asked to be assigned to Ida Barbour, which is predominantly black, because he had never lived in public housing and wanted to make a difference.
``I love it. It's a challenge,'' Butler said. ``A lot of these people out here, I consider my friends. But I had to earn their respect.
``Even the drug dealers, they understand I've got a job to do. And I tell them, I understand they've got a job to do, but sometimes, our jobs are going to clash.''
Butler said he knew he was really making strides when a known drug dealer called him to report information about a burglary in the neighborhood.
``I'm a policeman and he's a drug dealer,'' Butler said. ``But when the chips are on the table, we're all human beings.''
Across the city, partnerships of all sorts are forming - not only between residents and police, but also among law enforcement and public service agencies themselves.
``Partnering is not isolated to police and community,'' said Carol Gibeson, a spokeswoman for the Community Policing Consortium in Washington.
The consortium provides training and technical assistance to law enforcement agencies across the country. It also monitors community policing programs nationwide.
In community policing, ``police are partnering with other government agencies . . . and there's all sorts of different innovative ideas,'' Gibeson said.
Local police may pair up with a housing authority or state and federal agencies to find solutions to community problems.
``I think we're going to see a whole lot more of that as community policing gets out there and gets stronger,'' Gibeson said. ``Localities are trying to figure out what is the best way to get a job done.''
One of the most recent examples of inter-agency cooperation was in River Edge - also called Twin Lakes - a neighborhood once notorious for its open-air drug market and the popping sound of gunfire.
In March, as the result of the work of task force made up of federal agents and Portsmouth police, seven men were convicted in federal court on charges of running a violence-prone cocaine ring.
The apartments where drugs and violence once flourished will be replaced by 150 single-family homes built by private developers around a man-made lake.
Nontraditional partnerships like those used to clean up River Edge are still an emerging novelty, but renewed links between police and communities have sparked a community activism that has taken on a life of its own.
The offspring looks like tenant associations, neighborhood patrols, community festivals for crime prevention and awareness, and individual efforts that are making a difference.
Reggie Allen, president of the Brighton-Prentis Park Civic League, rides around daily with other volunteers in a patrol car owned by the civic league. Residents ride in four-hour shifts in the 1992 Ford Taurus, starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 2 a.m.
``We're another set of eyes for the Police Department,'' Allen said. ``What we see, we report.''
Allen and other volunteers report criminal activity to their two neighborhood police officers and meet with them monthly to discuss neighborhood concerns.
``We not only report the criminal things, we report abandoned cars, trash and all those kinds of things,'' he said. ``We just don't sit around and burn up gas. With the neighborhood patrols and the officers, the more visible they are, the better things are for us out here.''
Even in neighborhoods where crime is not dropping, some residents say they feel safer.
``When officers get out and start holding neighborhood meetings, residents start to feel safer because they feel that now they have an alliance,'' Gibeson said. ``They don't just have the other end of a telephone to deal with.
``Residents start feeling like they have empowerment over their livelihood and their lives as opposed to hoping someone will come and protect their livelihood.''
In Hodges Manor, which has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the city, there was one more violent crime this year than last year. Yet residents say they feel safer.
``I think people here have enjoyed a feeling of safety,'' said J. Brewer Moore, treasurer of the Hodges Manor Civic League. ``I think the police are here . . . and they've done a good job.''
``We've had companies in to rig up sensor lights, burglar alarm systems and double locks. The neighborhood has eyes and they know how to act.''
Moore said Hodges Manor does not have a neighborhood watch, but ``I think one of the good things, too, is the number of people who are out jogging or walking.''
``The streets are teeming with folks . . . and that helps a whole lot. I think people are less inclined to commit crimes because you don't know who's looking at you.''
Bridging the gap between communities and law enforcement is making a difference in Portsmouth - at least to its citizens.
``I don't have no problems here now,'' said Flood, the 78-year-old woman who credits the change in Swanson Homes to her community police officer. ``The police are out here often now. It's better now.'' ILLUSTRATION: THE REASONS: PATROLS, POLICING, THE COURTS
Color photos by Mark Mitchell/The Virginian-Pilot
Civic leagues and neighborhood watch groups: Reggie Allen, president
of the Brighton-Prentis Park Civic League, patrols daily with other
volunteers in a car the civic league owns.
Community policing: Officer Muhammad Abdul-Ali patrols in Prentis
Park, where residents are working with police to make the area
safer. It's been one of the city's worst.
More officers, tougher sanctions: Officers D.K. Butler, whose area
is Ida Barbour public-housing community, searches a man with the
help of Officer D. Thompson, left. Portsmouth's City Council has
increased the number of officers in the past two years; judges and
prosecutors also are cracking down.
Photo
[Georgetta Flood, 78, lives in Swanson Homes Public Housing...]
Graphic
Violent crime rates for Portsmouth neighborhoods
Neigborhoods rated from most to fewest reported violent crimes for
January through June 1996,
Analysis of police database by Naomi Aoki, graphic by John Corbitt,
Robert D. Voros/The Virginian-Pilot.
[For complete copy, see microfilm]
Graphic
Hot Spots for Crime
In 11 street blocks in Portsmouth, four or more violent crimes were
reported between January and June 1996. Analysis of police database
by Naomi Aoki, graphic by Robert D. Voros/The Virginian-Pilot.
[For complete copy, see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH POLICE CRIME STATISTICS CRIME
REDUCTION DECREASE by CNB