CITIZENS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT WORKING TOGETHER • DURHAM, NC • DISTRICT 2

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PAC II
About 50 people attended the meeting. Eric Olsen of
The Herald-Sun was present.

* Introductions
--ABC Liquor Licenses:

-Golden China Rest. Northpointe Dr. (across from Costco). No complaints were received about this application.

-Handi Foods, 518 Block, E. Trinity Ave. This application has received numerous concerns by residents. (Old North Durham).

These two proposals were posted to the PAC2 listserv by Officer Scott Baker.

Handi Foods Community Concerns: In the past year there have been seven police calls generated at the store's location. A resident stood up to say that this portion of Old North Durham (OND) is not stable and that allowing this permit will add to the problems of neglect, loitering, and crimes committed under the influence. Another OND resident that lives on Trinity, feels that the proximity of liquor in an area where children play and walk is dangerous. The Handi Foods representative spoke and, as a business owner of another convenience store in District 4, he felt that he addressed those same concerns there by working with the police and PAC4. The primary use of the facility on Trinity will be as a gas station. He is open to citizens' input. B.J. Council, the former commander in district 4, attested to the business's commitment to the community. She said that the owner was on a task force to handle any issues involving crime near the business -- loitering, lighting and other issues were attended to promptly.

PAC2 co-chair Brooke Whiteford alerted the room that though the community and the local police departments have limited input into the license approval, because the state issues the license, the permits are rarely denied to the businesses. There was sentiment that even if the PAC votes at this meeting to deny the license, it is important that if the license is eventually approved, the business owner of Handi Foods remains engaged with the community. There was clarification that the premisis already can sell beer; this application is for a permit to sell fortified beer and wine. Another citizen suggested that the establishment participate or spearhead cleanups of debris and litter in a six-block radius surrounding the gas station/convenience store. The Handi Foods rep said that his staff participates in neighborhood cleanups with district 4 and expects to do the same in District 2. There was a question: has any permit request been rejected because of community input? No, but Paul Miller (state rep) has tried to pass legislation that would give teeth to community input in a limited area of District IV in the city. Background investigations on the establishments will be completed this week, according to Officer Scott Baker. If it is proven that certain crimes are being committed because of the permit (nuisance abatement), then a permit can be taken away, though this is rare -- the ABC commission's assessment usually guarantees the permit's approval. Generally a new permit application is approved within a month. The motion was made and voted upon to reject the Handi Foods permit request and to approve the Golden China request.

Brooke Whiteford noted that the ABC License rejection by the PAC II community was the first denial for District II.

[Update 3/9/02: The Old North Durham Neighborhood Association is starting to work with the owner of Handi Foods to minimize any negative impact to the surrounding area]

===

--John Best, City Council, was introduced to the room as a contact for this district's concerns.

* PAC 2 Thank you: appreciation was expressed to the service of Cynthia Mebane-Watts in PAC2 (Housing and Community Development). She has been responsible for cleaning up many chronic problems in the area and worked and thought outside the box to contact people or entities that were needed to get the job done. PAC 2 looks forward to the same working relationship with Lynwood Best, who will be serving both District 3 and District 2 until a liaison is hired.

* PAC 2 Community Initiatives: Brooke wanted to remind the room of the resources available to residents of PAC 2, that are projects developed over the past two to three years in collaboration with the District II Northgate substation:

-- The Auto-dialer: to handle bulk calls of announcements and alerts to the community

-- Operation ID: resources available to the community for marking and registering their valuables with the substation

-- Partners Against Crime District 2 electronic resources-- created and maintained by residents and monitored by the substation, including:

+ The pac2@yahoogroups.com listserv (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pac2/) and web site (http://www.pac2durham.com/)

+ Listserv COP: monitors and answers questions on the listserv (Officer Baker)

+ Daily Neighborhood Crime E-report

+ Online postings of District II Interdepartmental Meetings (Officer Scott)

+ Durham Police/PAC2 Customer Service Form (http://www.pac2durham.com/forms/custserv.htm)

+ Community Dog Pack online reporting form (http://www.pac2durham.com/forms/dogs.htm)

+ Online Streetlight Request form (http://www.pac2durham.com/forms/streetlightform.htm)

+ Speed trailer online request form (http://www.pac2durham.com/forms/trailerform.htm)

== Speaker

* Interim Chief Steve Chalmers --Topic - Vision for PAC-Durham Police Department Partnership Chalmers thanked PAC2 for giving support to the police department and expressed how PAC has resulted in collaboration and community empowerment. He discussed how crime abatement meetings and more community outreach to help reduce crime overall in the city. Crime has steadily gone down since many of these projects have been in place. He and many of the officers monitor the PAC2 listserv regularly and he is impressed and intrigued by the involvement of the community in this venue. It is a partnership he said, and part of that is knowing that we have to agree to disagree on some issues, but coming to consensus is the best outcome to ensure we all move forward. He went before a council work session, and discussed the Barnes Avenue initiative. He expresses that the North-East Central Durham (NECD) initiative is not an isolated project; he intends to take this kind of action citywide to address a neighborhood at a time. The goal is to attack the NE Central crime, housing and employment issues, take control of the situation and stabilize the neighborhood completely, staying in the area until the problems are fully solved before moving on so that the problems will not recur from the root cause. They intend to maintain relationships in the community and he asks that the PACs be patient and to give support to the effort. He opened the floor to questions.

Where is the boundary of the NECD project? Holloway to the north, Morning Glory to the South, Elm to the East, Canal Street is not part of the focus area. Special units are being utilized in these target areas, and units won't be taken away from the other districts. Captain Clark will not lose any patrols in district 2, and crime will not be pushed into surrounding areas.

There will be a total assessment of the issues that vex a neighborhood, and try to solve them permanently, such as chronic speeding, loitering, convenient store-generated crime. A comprehensive approach cannot be done all at once, so community effort and involvement of bringing issues to the forefront is important.

Neighborhood stabilization: It was noted that one beat patrol (4 officers and 1 car) was taken away from District II. Now 4 neighborhoods must be covered under the one beat (instead of 2). There are 476 officers active in the City of Durham (currently there are 9 vacancies). Chalmers said that reallocation of resources is common: a year ago there was a concern about gangs. It couldn't be ignored. The gang unit was formed out of other units, representing a loss of manpower. Sept 11 also caused a shift in manpower to accommodate those events. There are 6700 warrants that are not being served because of the shortage of officers available. A warrant unit was formed, removing yet more officers to address this. This is what the DPD has to do to provide the most coverage for the entire city's problems.

During the re-districting District 2 lost land therefore last a beat. District 2 has 8 beats, District 1 has 8 beats, District 3 had 7 beats but receive a new beat for a total of 8, District 4 was increased to 7 beats and District 5 has 2 beats. The DPD moved 4 officers and one car from District 2 to address the new central district. The DPD looks at the number of calls and the types of calls to determine how to fairly distribute personnel. Now as things stand, District 1 and 2 have 68 officers, District 3 and 4 have 60 officers allocated. The DPD looks at the city as a whole, not taking the boundaries into consideration. The allocation is done in the best way they know how. The DPD has to do allocation studies periodically to assess how well the department is handling the workload. The divisions of districts are used more for administration and management of units than as firm beat boundaries. District 5 has 38 officers. Only 29 are actually assigned to the district. The others represent support and citywide resources. The study, when released, will be freely available to the public.

[Note: A map of District 2 boundaries before and after the re-districting can be view at http://www.pac2durham.com/minutes/pac/pac02_18_02.htm#maps
]

Brooke revealed statistics from District 2 that showed 12,000 more calls were reported in District 2 than District 1 for 2001. District 2 had 2-times the businesses and 27.9% of the Part I crimes (20% would be the average distributed across the five districts) Chalmers said that the Part 1 crimes in District 1 involved more violent crimes (rape vs. car break in). [Note: Part I Crimes are Murder, Rape, Sexual Assault, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault, B&E Business, B&E Residential, Larceny, Vehicle Theft, B&E Vehicle, Domestic Violence and Kidnapping]

A citizen noted that in the past, when the shift of a beat was presented to PAC2 there was a promise to eventually restore that beat -- PAC is now being told that will not occur, a broken trust. Chalmers said that there was no way to make a promise like that, and that it was misinformation PAC2 was given. There was no "loan" of personnel -- the resources are needed elsewhere and it was deemed proportionate to reallocate the officers -- end of story.

A resident said that GIS research shows the volume and type of calls in District 2 would suggest that the area needs more resources, and that it seems that the lesson for District 2 is that "the crying baby gets the milk" -- that whichever district makes enough noise will get the resources. Chalmers disagreed. However, it was not discussed that the District 2 substation itself has requested the return of the beat patrol that was reallocated elsewhere.

What level of community input should be allowed in DPD planning? Since the planning of district 5 was an example of how the DPD didn't feel it necessary to ask for community input. Chalmers acknowledged that this was a mistake and that in the future things like this would be handled differently.

Shirley Street stood up to thank the DPD for the intervention that she has seen in Walltown, and that circumstances have improved and they appreciated the presence of the District 2 officers.

John Best asked about working with the sheriff's dept, highway patrol, etc. Chalmers said the most successful initiatives have involved collaboration working with other entities. The STARS program is an example of state, fed and local agencies working together to tackle large problems. Traffic stops and knock and talks have been done in this matter. He has met with Sheriff Hill to talk about working together on more initiatives and partnerships.

PAC2 co-chair Newman Aguiar commended the chief on his frankness about the comment about the community being "misinformed" about the loan of beat of 211. It seemed disingenuous to him, however, that the community can be told one thing at a given time and then things change later. It is not fair that the community wasn't told that the beat would be lost permanently initially, so that the PAC could at least had a chance lobby the council to allocate funds to replace the beat. Chalmers indicated that the he never misled anyone about the allocation of resources or a loan of the officer. He feels the best allocation of resources is being determined by statistics gathered in continual studies that will be publicly available. He wants to move forward and address the same concerns. The boundary beat lines on the map are artificial says, Lt. Col. Hare -- the community needs to be less tied to these boundaries and look at the results and response time. An officer wants feedback as to the impact of the beat loss. Jeff White was concerned about the lack of visibility of a beat when it is reallocated. The police presence near Trinity, Markham and Washington, for instance, will be reduced and the criminals will be aware of this and act accordingly. There was a general concern about a rise in criminal activity. Chalmers said that beat integrity is impossible these days because all the officers are stretched to the limit. The fact that the beats had to be reorganized in District 2 reflects no conscious attempt to deprive 2 of services, they are just trying to get the job done.

It was said by residents that there are mixed messages being sent -- the community is being asked to participate in decision-making and problem-solving, yet issues of trust are still cloudy. That the term community oriented policing means the community and officers know each other but the beat boundaries are meaningless. Chalmers said that the citizens need to build a relationship with their commanders in order to build communication and address the problem. Newman again reiterated the efforts of District 2 officers and substation. He feels that there is a disconnect between the priority placed on the value of the COP [Community Oriented Police Officer] position based on actions revolving around promotions. An example: those that want to be community liaisons cannot rise in rank. Often they have to be reduced in rank to take these positions. Chalmers also disagrees that this indicates a lack of commitment by DPD to community policing. Regarding promotions: positions are allocated by rank in certain numbers around the district. If there are 100 corporals, that person may have to go to a different location because the only a certain number of a particular rank is allowed in a particular area. This is a personal choice for the officer. Because of budgetary issues the DPD cannot afford COPs of higher rank above officer. A Community Policing Officer serves as a leader in the organization. This is the person that attempts to hold the beat integrity together. That officer also communicates with the 4 officers of the beat to determine when and where they need to be when not on call, based on community input. There was a positive affirmation of the work of Officers Jim Adams, Tony Scott, Mark Sherman and Scott Baker in helping a resident in Watts-Hillandale in forming a network of over 40 block captains when residents were concerned about a series of bank robberies.

Brooke asked how can the community be proactive in participating with the DPD in evaluating the use of services in the district. Officer Charles Tiffin will spearhead the study to address allocation, and Jim Emery and Jeff White have agreed to work with him to provide community input.

How to re-establish trust: Chalmers -- there's always a chance of miscommunication, but it's clear that we need to make an effort to start on the basis of trust and to keep things in perspective. Things can be misheard or misinterpreted but that if we move forward. Brooke mentioned the complete trust the community has in its Northgate substation personnel and that the lack of trust is actually with downtown DPD Headquarters and this is reflected in the citywide PAC. It's a big issue, and it needs to be addressed. The efforts with the substation have been very proactive and successful, but the dealings with downtown have been difficult.

Citywide PAC: Chalmers feels this entity is important, and it needs to be reconvened and re-energized. Brooke reiterated that the citywide PAC meetings initiated by DPD had not worked well in the past, yet the individual PACs have been successful on their own working within the districts solving problems. There is no match money available to the groups, but each PAC has to look to their own innovative ideas about what can be done to accomplish goals such as funding additional officers. Chalmers feels that marketing potential of presenting issues in a citywide PAC forum makes it more effective as a tool. Mike Shiflett feels that some of the most effective work has been done by Housing and Community Development -- Cynthia was responsible for taking care of some of the most egregious houses that generated multiple crimes. If the issues surrounding substandard housing and absentee, repeatedly code-violating landlords aren't addressed, the NECD area will not be the only neighborhood south of I-85 to show an increase in crime.

There was discussion of the large effort on curtailing crime at the Super 8 on Avondale. Based upon the URC crime statistics Super 8 was identified as a high incident area. An operation involving multiple agencies shut-down activity at the Super 8. Officer Mark Sherman said that the owner has decided to close the business and future development will have to involve the demolition of the building. It was said that the proactively shown on this kind of project, even in the face of limited funds, can be incredibly successful when the police and the residents work together. The PAC residents concurred. There were questions pertaining to the URC.

[Note: The URC (Uniform Reporting Code) is the statistic method to which DPD adhere. The URC has caused confusion within the community because of lack of understanding how crimes are mapped. For example one neighborhood had experienced 5 attempted residential break-ins. Two of these resulted in window screens being slashed but the intruder was scared away and did not enter the dwelling, these were reported as vandalism. The third the window was broken but the intruder did not enter, again reported as vandalism. The fourth the intruder entered the dwelling this was reported as a B&E Residential. When the police officer showed up at the fifth residence the owner believed there had been 4 other B&Es within the area, the officer only knew of 1. PAC 2 worked with both the community and the District 2 sub-station personnel to enhance sensitively to this misconnect.

DPD has been increasing their adherence to the URC. Recently crimes that were reported as separate crimes will now be combined into one reported incident. This is in accordance with the way other communities report crimes and will allow Durham crime statistics to be easier compared to other cities. As residents we may see a decrease in the crime numbers while the transition to different reporting standards are implemented.]

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Speaker

* Charlene Montford - Director Department of Housing and Community Development

-Topic - Changes in the PAC Liaison rotation system Charlene Montford is very committed to providing extra help to the district. There are a lot of challenges in the department, and though District 2 is losing Cynthia (Mebane-Watts) the standards she sets are high and she wants feedback from the community on the performance of the department.

They are working to have another community relations staff position added for a total of 5 one for each district. The new liaison person for District 2 will be Lynwood Best, and he will be working for district 3 as well for 30-60 days. There were questions about inspectors. Kevin Easter has been moved to PAC1 to work with 4 other inspector on the NECD project. Bennie Fields a supervisor is filling in part-time while another inspector is on medical leave (George Carter). Despite the current short staffing, Montford said that the level of service in PAC2 will not diminish. There will be another inspector to replace Kevin Easter in another 30-60 days. Kevin and Bennie will be half-time serving District 2. She isn't sure whether budget cuts will affect any of these new positions and cannot promise they will materialize. She encourages the PAC itself to participate in some of the things the other PACs have done to bolster crime prevention and resources. The next weed and seed effort ($250K) could be applied for in PAC2 (Jeff White volunteered to call her about weed and seed for district 2.). She suggested that perhaps the PAC needs to work to become a 501(c3) so that it can take advantage of and compete for the resources available to District 1 for instance. Montford said that the police department has a grant writer that can assist the PAC in acquiring resources. Brooke countered that now basic services are being eroded from district 2 that residents have paid for with their tax dollars. PAC 2 has always been supportive of the other districts getting additional resources through the types of grants Montford now suggests PAC2 apply for (and has been content to not ask for or compete with other district for resources). It appears that sitting back has now resulted in resources being taken away. It also appears that the DPD's tactics are going to force PACs to compete for resources rather than collaborate.

Will there be a promise to keep district 2 in mind, and will meet the basic needs of all the districts --that we will not have to compete with other districts. Charlene pledges to communicate effectively. How will housing deal with the displacement of residents in NECD during the operation? The redevelopment plan to acquire and demolish properties will take about 6 months. Most of the residents prefer to stay in the area. Those that need to be relocated will be dispersed throughout the community. Lynwood Best handles the relocation of those in NECD as a result of HOPE 6 and Barnes Avenue projects. There was concern in the room expressed about the possibility of the current crime problems in District 1 moving into District 2 not only if NECD residents are relocated into areas of 2, but because the police resources from District 2 are drained as they shift to the target areas of District 1, leaving 2 vulnerable. There will be aggressive code enforcement throughout the city, and they are trying to get ahead of the game. The code is being revisited locally at to handle at the state level. There will be some more amendments to the housing code presented to council soon to give it more teeth to address long-term problems with negligent landlords. Cynthia reiterates that the department sympathizes with the community's problems with code enforcement and affordable and safe housing. To close, Brooke reiterated that the removal of the 4 officers has hurt the trust built up over time between the community and the DPD and that District 2 is urban and that it isn't as stable as it seems. She hears gunfire regularly in Old North Durham -- a neighborhood shadowing over what is to be the revitalized Durham Central Park area. In the past 4-years that gun fired has resulted in 3 fatalities -it is very concerning police officers are being removed from this community. There are plots of crime moving closer to the neighborhoods that are transitional and they could go either way at this stage. A loss of services can make the difference. PAC2 needs to be vigilant about retaining resources that are moving elsewhere.

Jeff White noted that Durham has had a history of failed projects that have attempted to redevelop and rejuvenate needy areas. There is skepticism that the Barnes Ave. project will succeed where others have failed. Charlene Montford reassured the room that she has not handled an unsuccessful program and that she will hold her department and herself accountable for any successes or failures.

Updates (these were not addressed at the meeting for lack of time)

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Community Concerns
Liquor Licensing Procedures
PAC II By-laws
Animal Control
Department of Housing & Community Development
Durham Departments
Durham Police - District II
===
ADJOURN

Figures Referenced in Minutes (click images to enlarge)

1. District 2 before 2/1/01 – (prior to the creation of District 5)

2. District 2 after 2/1/01 – (after the creation of District 5)

3. (Delta) District 2 map showing changes in area after the creation of District 5.

***

IMPORTANT PAC II Contact Information

Web site: http://www.pac2durham.com/

Listserv: pac2@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe: pac2-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: pac2-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

District 2 Chairs: Brooke Whiteford, 683-6736,
brookewhiteford@yahoo.com; Newman Aguiar, 956-9812,
newman@nc.rr.com

Webmaster/listserv admin: Pam Spaulding,
pspauld@yahoo.com

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