
DATE: Sunday, September 14, 1997            TAG: 9709120154

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   89 lines

SOUTH NORFOLK NEIGHBORHOOD CITES COMMUNITY POLICE OFFICER

Officer John Maresco Jr. has become an expert on the South Side area that makes up a large portion of South Norfolk.

For the past couple of years, Maresco had gotten acquainted with the nooks and crannies of the neighborhood by biking or walking around as part of his daily routine.

But he didn't see what was coming when he entered the South Side Civic League's meeting Monday night - when members surprised Maresco with a plaque honoring his work in the community. About 30 residents and three of Maresco's superiors on the police force packed into the Apostolic Faith Church annex off Campostella Road.

Last month, the South Side Civic League officers wrote a letter of appreciation to Police Chief Richard A. Justice about Maresco's impact.

``We have noticed an improvement in our neighborhood since Officer Maresco and other officers have been working in our area,'' the letter said. ``They take the time to visit our civic league and meet some of the citizens that they are protecting.''

The civic league's sentiments for Maresco, the police officials felt, were also complimentary words for the city's new law-enforcement effort - community policing.

Community policing is a philosophy that has become popular in law-enforcement circles in the past five years. It maintains that police who spend time walking the beat, rather than driving the streets, will become familiar with problems unique to the community, and thereby become better crime fighters.

``We used to drive through our communities, wave, and then try to answer your problems,'' Deputy Chief Louis Tayon said to the civic league members. ``We couldn't solve all your problems like that.''

Community policing has made such problem-solving much easier, at least in South Side, residents said.

Since Maresco and other officers began community-policing shifts in the neighborhood, residents have noticed fewer people dealing drugs, civic league members said. The consistent presence of officers scares away dealers, said Marian Bullock, a South Norfolk activist.

But, in addition to traditional crime-fighting, Maresco helped with other problems in South Side. Abandoned houses dotted the area leaving the neighborhood with not only eyesores but also places where the homeless would stay and drug dealers would operate, residents said.

Residents told Maresco about these problem structures, and he contacted other city agencies to demolish them.

``I think we've made a lot of progress in one year,'' Bullock said. ``. . . The neighborhood is looking up.''

The interagency cooperation shown by the action on the abandoned houses is one of the benefits of community policing, Tayon said.

The 20 community-policing officers have been working out of the 2nd Precinct in South Norfolk.

The department has plans to expand community policing throughout the city, with the 4th Precinct in Western Branch likely to bring in the officers next. Stories such as South Side's encourage those plans, the officers said.

Despite its success, community policing doesn't work without cooperation from the community, Maresco said.

``When people get to know you and trust you, you work so much better,'' Maresco said.

Maresco initially had to work at that trust. He would knock on people's doors, speak to them on their porches and attend the civic league meetings. He'd ask them what problems they were having, and after he solved some of them, a camaraderie grew.

``He was just like family,'' said Rev. James W. McNeil, South Side Civic League president. ``Everybody knew him.''

Maresco - who has been on the force for six years - has since been reassigned to the department's crime prevention division. When he returned Monday night, Maresco greeted familiar faces with handshakes and hugs.

``Working with you all has been the greatest experience,'' Maresco said. ``If you ever need anything, please call.''

And out Maresco walked into the night. But minutes later, the community police officers who now patrol South Side - Officers J.J. Bider and M.G. Rowe - entered the church annex.

Soon the officers were hearing about the neighborhood problems. People hanging out in a vacant lot, drinking and publicly urinating. An abandoned house full of roaches and rodents.

Bider and Rowe listened carefully, the new problem-solvers on the block. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PHILIP HOLMAN

James McNeil, right, president of the South Side Civic League,

enjoys a hug from Officer John Maresco Jr. after McNeil presented

Maresco with a plaque recognizing his community-policing

contributions to the area.

``When people get to know you and trust you, you work so much

better,'' Maresco said. ``Working with you all has been the greatest

experience.''