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7/15/2002 Partners Against Crime District II Minutes

Meeting schedule
Reentry Program
Court Watch
East End Connector
Visions of Tomorrow
Police officers living in Durham
ABC application
Cleanup campaigns
Property at 1010 Washington St.

Meeting schedule: Newman distributed copies of the new meeting schedule.

Starting in August, PAC2 meetings will be held on the second Monday of each month. The 2002-2003 meeting dates are:

August 12, 2002
September 9, 2002
October 14, 2002 (Columbus Day observed)
November 11, 2002 (Veteran's Day)
December 9, 2002
January 13, 2003
February 10, 2003
March 10, 2003
April 14, 2003
May 12, 2003
June 9, 2003

Meetings will be held in the cafeteria at E.K. Powe Elementary School, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Durham County Reentry Program: Gudrun Parmer, director of the Criminal Justice Resource Center (CJRC), spoke to PAC2 about the center's Reentry Program. This is a county agency that provides services to offenders in the community in order to combat and reduce recidivism.

The reentry program makes contact with inmates from Durham before their release. Inmates who have been convicted in Durham normally are released to Durham; if they have no home to go to, they are officially released to the courthouse address. The CJRC coordinates with the parole commission and tries to get three months' advance notice of a prisoner's release. A Reentry team that includes representatives from the police, probation, and parole departments checks out the person's intended residence upon release and assesses the situation. (For instance, they verify that someone a prisoner intends to stay with still lives there and is willing to take him in.) If they determine that the person does not have a valid residence plan, he can move into the CJRC's halfway house; if the halfway house is full, the program will provide a bed in a community shelter. The second step is for the team to visit the inmate in prison and talk with him about his residence situation, how his prison term went (whether he had any problems or got in any additional trouble while incarcerated), and what he can expect upon release. When released, the person is picked up by probation and spends the first night under house arrest, wearing an electronic monitoring anklet. The next day, he reports to the reentry program.

Reentry program participants are subject to a curfew and/or electronic monitoring for around three months, depending on their conduct. Those who need it can receive treatment for substance abuse. Participants are subject to regular drug testing, and must report daily to classes, depending on their needs. G.E.D. classes are offered through Durham Tech; also available are life skills and cognitive behavior classes, which help people learn to change the way they react to situations. The program lasts a minimum of six months, but can be longer. Participants attend daily for the first two months, and then less frequently as time goes by.

Why is a reentry program needed? Because these former inmates are reentering our community anyway, whether we like it or not, and whether we help them or not. More than 400 Durham residents get out of prison every year. About a third of these are on parole, and hence still under the supervision of the criminal justice system; the other two-thirds are those who have "maxed out", or completed their full sentence, and are not under supervision. Most have served sentences for felony convictions, which makes it very difficult for them to find employment; the biggest need ex-convicts have, other than substance abuse treatment, is jobs. Many of these people want to turn their life around; it's important for someone to be able to connect with them at this crucial point and be able to offer them the support they need to start over and become productive members of the community. The Reentry Program is mandatory for those being paroled, and is also available as a resource for those who have served their full sentence.

The ex-inmates returning to Durham are mostly young men in their 20s; some have a high school degree and some don't; some have a little work experience, but most have none at all. A fast-food or similar McJob can provide them with an initial legitimate work reference, but won't offer a salary they can live on in the long term. A grant from the Governor's Crime Commission has funded job skills classes and the hiring of a job developer, who works out of the Durham Chamber of Commerce. The Reentry Program will work with the job developer to determine market needs and with Durham Tech to shape a job training program accordingly.

Local churches can contribute to the reentry effort through the Transition Aftercare Network (TAN). Each church adopts one inmate; they often help out with work clothes or equipment when the person finds a job, but the primary purpose of the sponsorship is not money. It's just to have someone who cares and will follow up and stay in contact with the person. The Reentry Program is seeking both churches and individuals willing to serve as mentors.

Court Watch: We get the daily crime reports on the PAC2 listserve, and sometimes hear from the police about whether arrests have been made. But then what? We may allow our attention to lapse at that point; more likely, we may be interested, but not know how to find out what happens next, and whether a suspect has been released on bail, tried, convicted, or sentenced.

The Court Watch program, started by Durham Businesses Against Crime (DBAC), is an educational opportunity for the community to see the legal process at work and inform itself about the disposition of these cases. Officer Eric Hester spoke to PAC2 about Court Watch. He cited the example of an individual who was arrested three weeks ago for multiple vehicle B&Es; this person was released two weeks ago, and last week was arrested again in connection with a fresh string of similar crimes.

Court Watch holds meetings every third Thursday at 1 p.m. The crime incident reports are reviewed and people can volunteer to track individual cases; there can be more than one person assigned to each suspect. Volunteers then follow up on their cases, whether there is a scheduled court date, a continuance, a plea agreement, or a trial. They attend all the court dates to observe the outcome.

Court Watch also provides an opportunity for the community to have a voice in the criminal justice process, particularly with regard to repeat offenders. Last week, Judge Craig Brown spoke to DBAC; he said that in pretrial release sessions, 60 to 70 inmates are brought before him within two hours. He has to decide on a bond, and the only information he has on each of them is the charges against him and his criminal record, if any. A community presence in the courtroom, and input from the community, can be very useful.

Property crimes, while of great concern to the community, are not a very high priority relative to the more serious violent crimes the police deal with. In recent years, publicity campaigns around drunk driving and domestic violence have succeeded both in raising public consciousness about these crimes and in getting them treated more seriously within the criminal justice system. Officer Hester suggested that we try to emulate those models in creating a visible community presence on the property-crime front. He hopes to see a website created for Court Watch that would track the disposition of each of these cases.

Officer Hester also reminded us of National Night Out on August 6th. This is a symbolic day for the community to take back the streets, and for people to get reacquainted with their neighbors. Applications for block parties and other events should be directed to Lt. P. T. Williams by Friday, July 26.

Some discussion ensued. Newman reiterated his desire for PAC2 to establish a neighborhood focus, and suggested that it would be useful for each neighborhood to have a representative at Court Watch meetings, to track the prosecution of individuals who reside in their neighborhood or have been indicted for crimes committed within their neighborhood. Other suggestions included the posting of suspects' photos on the future website; Officer Hester said that the photos, and the current charges, are a matter of public record, but a suspect's criminal record is not. He also emphasized that, in the event of spotting a suspected criminal in the neighborhood, we should confine ourselves to acting as the 'eyes and ears' for the police, and should not try to go out and personally tangle with criminals.

East End Connector: Newman read, and PAC2 unanimously approved, a resolution to the following effect:
--- that we oppose the Northeast/Northwest loop (Eno Drive)
--- that we support timely construction of the East End Connector as the highest priority transportation project
--- that we support amending the NC highway trust fund to pay for the East End Connector Fred Lamar, a representative from the Dept. of Transportation, commented that the East End Connector is addressing different traffic issues than the Eno Drive project, and that if we're not going to build Eno Drive, we need to exert greater control over growth both in the county and in the city.

Visions of Tomorrow: Susan Kauffman spoke to PAC2 about Visions of Tomorrow, which is a grassroots economic development program begun this past year by the St. James Family Life Center in Walltown. During the course of the ten-week program, Walltown and other Durham residents work on their resumés, job skills, and interview skills. The program is supported by a Duke endowment, and also by Northgate Mall, which has agreed to employ program graduates.

Police officers living in Durham: Visions of Tomorrow has requested PAC2 support to encourage the Police Department to assign officers who reside in Walltown to patrol the beat which includes Walltown. In Walltown, over 40 houses have been renovated and sold by Self-Help to first-time homebuyers. Two DPD officers have moved into Walltown through this program, and they're working on getting a third house to recruit a third officer into the neighborhood. Representatives from Visions of Tomorrow have talked with Chief Chalmers about this and received some initial support. The Housing Dept. currently offers incentives for officers to purchase homes in problem areas. Newman will be posting a letter from Visions of Tomorrow to the listserv. At the next meeting, a vote will be taken to determine if members of PAC2 support the concept, proposed by Visions of Tomorrow, of assigning officers to the beat in which they live.

ABC application: Officer Scott Baker introduced the only ABC permit application under consideration this month, a new permit for a new business at 1805 W. Markham, in the space formerly occupied by La Renaissance. The new establishment, to be called the Siren's Lounge, will be a private club and is seeking a permit for the sale of beer and wine. Officer Baker reported having received one objection, from Northgate Park Neighborhood Association; he also reviewed the call history at the location---four calls in the last year, of which three were burglar alarms and one was for an abandoned vehicle.

Lindsay Locke, a 2002 Duke graduate and the proprietor of the future Siren's Lounge, was present to speak on behalf of her application. She emphasized that her establishment was to be an upscale private club, open to members and their guests only, and that it was not a college bar. Objections were raised primarily on the grounds of the number of establishments serving alcohol already in the area. Opponents pointed out that there are already numerous bars on 9th Street, and we don't need one more. Also, this permit will move sales of alcohol even closer to a residential neighborhood, and one that the community has worked hard to revitalize in recent years. Durham has no limit on the number of alcohol permits that can be granted; in some cities, there's a fixed quota, and when the number of permits is maxed out, no new ones can be granted until an old one is retired.

Ms. Locke responded to these objections by reminding us that La Renaissance had held an alcohol permit in that location for the past year, and by stating that alcohol will not be the main focus of her establishment. Further discussion was cut short due to time constraints, and PAC2 voted to approve the permit application with 11 votes to approve and 5 votes to deny.

Cleanup campaigns: Newman introduced this topic by reminding us that cleanup campaigns are now handled by the Solid Waste Department rather than the Impact Team. These cleanups are an opportunity to get the city to come into a neighborhood and pick up trash and debris; neighborhood organizations should contact the Solid Waste Dept. to arrange a cleanup. Mitch Archer from the Impact Team informed us that due to budget cuts, they would probably be doing only the regular citywide spring cleanup and most likely would not be able to schedule more neighborhood cleanups. The Impact Team will conduct a previously-scheduled cleanup coming up this Saturday in Walltown. All future neighborhood cleanups should be scheduled through the Solid Waste Dept.

Property at 1010 Washington St.: The yellow house at the corner of Washington & Markham has been a longtime problem and a center of criminal activity. Residents, especially in Old North Durham, are encouraged to keep an eye on this house and to report any suspicious activity there to Lynwood Best (560-4570 ext.254) or Cynthia Mebane-Watts (560-4570). To make enforcement there successful, as much information as possible is needed to establish an activity pattern.

Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. This month's meeting was kept short so that those who were interested could attend the public forum at City Hall with the three finalists for Durham's new Chief of Police.

***

IMPORTANT PAC II Contact Information

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

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PAC2 Co-chair: Newman Aguiar <newman@nc.rr.com> Term Expires: July 31, 2003
PAC2 Co-Chair: Jeff White <jwbikes@us.ibm.com> Term Expires: July 31, 2004
PAC2 Secretary: Lori Harris <Ellephai@aol.com> Term Expires: July 31, 2004
PAC2 Treasurer: Fred Lamar<dolce2@duke.edu> Term Expires: July 31, 2003

Webmaster/listserv admin: Pam Spaulding <pam@pfsimple.com>

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