DATE: Saturday, May 31, 1997                TAG: 9705300009

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

HE MADE A DIFFERENCE MOOK SUCCESSFULLY ENLISTED CITIZENS IN THE WAR AGAINST CRIME.

The day that Portsmouth citizens began to win their war against crime was the day in April 1994 that Dennis A. Mook was promoted to police chief, after two decades on the force.

He recently resigned to lead the larger Newport News Police Department. That's a promotion for him, but it's a shame he has to go. He helped make Portsmouth safer.

As staff writer Angelita Plemmer reported, the Police Department was in chaos when Mook took over. City Council had forced the previous chief to resign. About a sixth of the force had taken early retirement. Violent crime was rising for the 12th straight year.

Actually, 1995 was to be even worse. More than 400 residents attended a city-wide crime summit in February of 1996, and the mood was tense. The criminals seemed to be winning.

But at the second crime summit, early this year, the mood was almost celebratory. Mook's many reforms had yielded fruit. Violent crime had dropped 29 percent in 1996. Portsmouth courts' revolving doors had stopped revolving. Whole neighborhoods were safer.

The centerpiece of Mook's reforms was the Neighborhood Enhancement Action Team program, or NEAT, which put an officer in every neighborhood. Suddenly, each neighborhood had a uniformed partner in the fight against crime. A beat police officer knew neighborhood youngsters' names.

Besides reacting to crimes, NEAT officers worked to prevent them. They worked with city agencies and citizen tipsters to close down abandoned houses where crack was dealt and used. They worked with city departments to be sure trash was picked up.

Mook cooperated with federal law enforcers to eradicate two of the deadliest drug-dealing gangs in the city.

Mook cooperated with Commonwealth's Attorney Martin Bullock to set up a program that produced quicker apprehension of violent suspects, higher jail bonds, and speedier trials and convictions.

If anyone could help make Portsmouth safer, Mook was there, eager to cooperate.

Plemmer interviewed Mook shortly before he left. ``We've done an extraordinary amount of changing this police department,'' Mook said, ``from being reactive to being customer-focused, committed to community needs, being problem solvers and developing partnerships. If you boil down what I've learned about successful policing in Portsmouth, it's about problem solving, partnerships and not trying to control individuals, but trying to control or influence the environment.''

By his cooperative efforts, Mook helped whole neighborhoods improve. Newport News, which has a serious crime problem, is lucky to get him. Portsmouth is lucky to have had him.

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