AGENDA #5e
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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
Brian Curran, Interim Police Chief |
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SUBJECT: |
Report on Police Department Efforts in Northside |
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DATE: |
May 7, 2007 |
The purpose of this memorandum is to respond to a petition regarding the Police Department’s efforts in the Northside neighborhood.
In August of 2001, in response to citizen concerns about street-level crime, the Police Department created the Northside Patrol Unit. The Northside Patrol Unit position evolved from the belief that community-based policing methods could be valuable assets in addressing drug-related and other quality-of-life crimes in the neighborhood. The Northside Patrol Unit is comprised of four full-time officers who work in teams of two, Monday through Saturday, generally between the hours of 3:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. totaling 144 hours per week. This is in addition to the normal patrols the neighborhood receives from the on-duty patrol officers.
Northside is also served by the Police Department’s Community Services Unit. The Community Services Unit is responsible for the opening and staffing of the substation at 501 Sykes Street. We believe that the substation has become a valuable community resource. Residents frequently stop in to learn about police or other Town services, to report crimes, or simply to visit with the officers who operate from the substation. While it is currently staffed most weekdays during business hours, the Police Department is looking at ways to enhance its after-hours use. The Community Services Unit is active in the Northside Neighborhood Watch and coordinates special events such as the recent Spring Fling at the Hargraves Center. National Night Out activities are planned for Tuesday, August 7th.
The Police Department’s efforts in Northside are enhanced by its partnership with other groups. The Police Department has been an active member of the Community Impact Team. The Police Department will continue to partner with Northside residents, Town departments, and local non-profits to address quality-of-life issues in the neighborhood. An example of this collaboration is the Good Neighbor Initiative, which is designed to foster positive relationships between students and long-time residents of the community.
The petitioner expressed that, on two occasions, he believed officers had advised victims of crime to avoid pursuing charges in order to avoid possible retaliation from those arrested.
The petitioner specifically referred to a serious assault that occurred on March 15, 2007, at around 11:45 AM. In this case, a Northside resident was assaulted at the intersection of Graham and Rosemary Streets. Chapel Hill officers quickly located and detained a suspect, but the victim was unable to positively identify the assailant. An investigator was assigned to the case. Three days later, the victim again called 911 to report that the suspect had approached him to apologize for the incident. The victim told the officers that he could now positively identify the suspect and that he wished to pursue the matter. Warrants were obtained, and the suspect was arrested the next day and charged with Assault Inflicting Serious Injury. We believe that our officers gave this case an appropriate and prompt response.
In the other case cited by the petitioner, officers responded to a vandalism call in the middle of the afternoon on December 9, 2006. A young man threw a rock at the petitioner’s vehicle. The responding officer met with him while other officers checked the neighborhood for the suspect. When officers were unable to locate the suspect, the victim’s options were explained to him. Officers told him that, based on his description of the subject and their familiarity with many of the individuals who frequent the area, they believed they could identify him. The reporting officer offered to assist the victim with obtaining the warrant by driving him to the magistrate’s office where he could seek charges. Officers also told him that the suspect involved in the vandalism is a frequent visitor to the Northside neighborhood so he could make an informed decision about pursuing charges, given the potential for seeing the suspect again after charging him. It appears that this advice was interpreted as suggesting that the victim should not pursue charges. This was not the intention of the responding officers.
As of March 31, 2007, police logs show a 33 percent decrease in personal crimes from the previous fiscal year in the Northside neighborhood. Aggravated assaults also have decreased from 16 reported last year to eight in FY 2006-07. Property crimes, on the other hand, increased 39 percent. Drug charges in Northside more than doubled from the previous year. These results come from a focused and concerted effort by the Police Department at improving quality of life in Northside and have occurred despite the fact that four officers have been reassigned from the patrol division to the Central Business District in the last six months. One Northside position was also reassigned to the Central Business District in order to help staff that unit. Officers assigned to the Central Business District do not normally patrol in the Northside neighborhood, though the downtown bike officers have been making runs through Northside as time permits. Foot patrols in Northside have often consisted of covert surveillance efforts, designed to help officers make street-level drug arrests. We will try to increase our visible patrol efforts in Northside using existing personnel.
The Police Department continues its efforts to build relationships with citizens and organizations in the Northside neighborhood. With those partnerships in mind, the Police Department has begun researching the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. This program, under the auspices of the United States Attorney’s Office, is designed to develop and promote community outreach in conjunction with targeted enforcement efforts to reduce violent crime. Area law enforcement, social services providers, the District Attorney’s office, judges, and area businesses will all play a role in making the program a success. We anticipate the preliminary steps of this program to be underway by June.
Officers assigned to the Northside neighborhood will immediately begin spending more time on visible foot patrols. This summer, we will supplement the existing patrols in Northside with our middle school resource officers while school is out. We will continue to attend the monthly Northside community watch meetings. We also will continue to encourage residents to keep us apprised of our successes as well as the areas in which we should improve. Specifically, we will publicize and hold a Northside community forum to receive feedback and suggestions on our efforts in the Northside neighborhood. We anticipate that this session will be held within the next 30 days.
The Police Department believes that the concerns raised by the petition are, in part, a matter of perception. The concerns also reflect the need for better communication between the Police Department and the community. Improving the living conditions for the residents of Northside is a communitywide effort. We believe the programs and activities mentioned above will help us improve in this area.