MINUTES OF THE PAC2 MEETING
DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS STAFF DEVELOPMENT CENTER
June 13, 2011
Facilitator: Cheryl Shiflett – scjdurham@aol.com
Nancy Kneepkens – nKneep@earthlink.net
The meeting was called to order at 6:11 p.m.
Self-introductions followed.
Nancy Kneepkens was introduced as the new co-facilitator, and she thanked Bill Anderson for doing a fantastic job as co-facilitator. Nancy said that she started coming to the PAC meetings about 3 years ago. She had a problem in her backyard with a neighbor, and went to the Northgate Park Association meeting, where Mike Shiflett suggested she come to the PAC meeting to get advice and recommendations. Now she feels it is time to give back. She was a teacher previously.
COMMUNITY CONCERNS
David Williams, president of the Glennstone subdivision off Glenn Road, noted that there have been 11 break-ins there so far in June. He said he would like to have community watch signs posted, have a street light installed in a dark spot where cars hide, be considered for COP patrols, and have “No Soliciting” signs for the two entrances to the community. Rosetta Tucker, also from this area, lives by herself and would like to see more police patrols. They feel they need help because they are being targeted. People in the community are having trouble sleeping, and leaving porch lights on due to fear of being the next target. Cheryl asked if they have an organized neighborhood watch, to which they replied it was informal only. Lt. Barringer has been in contact with the people there, and police are aware of the issue and have been conducting directed patrols and surveillance. District 2 covers almost 33 miles with 10 officers, so coverage is a problem, but they are working to resolve the problems in Glennstone. They have obtained some tag information from the surveillance which might lead to something. Sgt. Mike Berendsen has a team working on that subdivision, and a meeting has been set up for June 25th to start a formal neighborhood watch program. She encouraged them to call 911 when they see a suspicious vehicle, but noted that response time would depend on what else was going on in the district during that time that might take precedence. She noted that police will not knock at their door unless they ask for the officer to, but will look for the suspicious vehicle. The street light request also goes through the crime prevention officer, who does an assessment and submits the request to the city. Cheryl said they could have the individual no soliciting signs after the meeting. Large signs for the entrance of the subdivision will have to be placed by the community. Mike Shiflett suggested having people who are home during the day keep an eye on the road, keep an eye out for suspicious people and even take their picture, and get to know the people there. He noted that it is important to give the neighborhood the tools to solve the problem themselves, rather than to come in and solve the problem for them and have it recur in a few months. Nancy said she calls 911 is she sees unknown people walking down the street in her neighborhood. Cheryl suggested they get to know their neighbors, their cars and their schedules.
Someone said that there was a missing storm drain grate at Stephenson and East Club Blvd., with a big hole where the grate used to be. Robin Dixon said she will check, but also suggested the person call Durham One Call and get a tracking number. Bill noted they could reach storm water at their direct number, 560-SWIM.
Another resident reported that there were people drinking at the Sennett Hole in West Point Park. Cars have been parking on Tanglewood off Landis Drive and taking coolers in and dogs off-leash, but she can’t call the activity in since she doesn’t take a cell phone there. The neighborhood would like to have cars ticketed and have “No Parking” signs put in.
Kim on Edwards Street reported an incident where she was sitting in her house feeding her baby at about 3:00 a.m. and a shooting occurred about 20 feet from her. The response from police was that it was a one-time targeted shooting, but she is living in fear that it will happen again and come into her house where she is sitting with her baby. She is trying to get a neighborhood watch together. Lt. Barringer said she was familiar with the incident, which involved nearby residents, but police can’t control who moves into a neighborhood. In this instance, they could not make an arrest because the witnesses would not cooperate with the investigation. Police have spoken with the individuals and the situation seems to be under control, but they don’t have the resources to put cars everywhere for prevention. They know who did the shooting, but could not build a case; however, the individuals do realize that police are watching them. Bill noted that with so much revitalization in parts of neighborhoods it concentrates problems in small pockets, and recommends that citizens from other neighborhoods come in and have a “street party” and pass out PAC brochures. Bill planned to set up one for Friday night at 8:00 p.m. in this area, and said he would put a notice online.
Someone said that Durham One Call often turns out to be Durham “Ten” Calls; there do not seem to be enough staff to answer calls, which are often rerouted. She thinks there should be a different way of handling the situation. Cheryl suggested that they get a direct number for the department where they are being transferred, and another person noted that they can also put in requests online. David Harris said we should let Durham One Call know about this complaint; the resident said it took 11 minutes for a call earlier that day. Carolyn Best said she had called Durham One Call twice and both incidents were handled beautifully.
Another resident said that people should be suspicious if they see work crews that appear to be remodelers at their neighbors’ houses. While he was at the animal clinic at North Pointe, someone removed the porch awning from his house. A resident of a group home in the neighborhood was seen casing his house and saw him leave, and notified his “friends” to help him remove it. He was seen taking a fireman’s ax out of the group home, which he then used to remove the awning. They then wrapped it up and put it in a white Ford Taurus station wagon. The person was confronted and told that he was seen tearing it up, and said he didn’t know the awning belonged to the property, and that he left it and went in the house and took a nap and someone else took it away and he didn’t know anything about it. The group home manager was arguing with the police about confronting the man. After approximately a month the resident was walking his dogs and saw a white Ford Taurus station wagon sitting in front of the group home, so he called police again, and when questioned the person said he was picking the guy up to take him to work. But he doesn’t know what has happened with the case and would like more feedback from police concerning the investigation.
Honor Gifford said they need a sign on West Murray Avenue for “No Trucks” between Duke Street and Broad Street. She also reported on the Citizens’ Appreciation Police Fund which had been set up the previous month to reimburse officers when they have out-of-pocket expenses. She said she had had collected $110 last month and had opened a checking account that week, with Bill Anderson’s name also on the account. Wachovia gave her a discount off checks due to the purpose of the account.
A real estate agent concerned about copper theft asked why the government could not be involved in controlling the purchase of scrap metal in the same way as with the sale of alcoholic beverages. She felt that dealers are part of the scam and encourage people to go out and get more metal. David Addison said that licensing of metal buying would be a problem, and that pawn shops would have to be involved since they deal in precious metals as well. He said that police are already tracking scrap metal dealers. Cheryl talked to a person who does heating and air conditioning and who will be coming to talk about securing air conditioning units in September.
Someone wanted to know how one could confirm that their address and phone number will come up when they call 911, and the suggestion was made to call the non-emergency number to check this.
Another person was waiting for someone to replace a wheel on their solid waste cart. They were told to put it on the street and someone would fix it on the day they pick up garbage, but it hasn’t happened in the last 2 weeks. Nancy said when this happened to her she called back and asked for a supervisor and it was done that day.
Mike Shiflett said that Bill had stepped out, and when he walked back in everyone should stand up and thank him for his service. Cheryl passed around a large card for everyone to sign. When Bill came back in everyone applauded, and Cheryl presented a thank you sign to him.
DEPARTMENTAL UPDATES
Durham Parks and Recreation: Audrey Gill said this was their busiest time of the year, since summer camps had started today and there were close to 1000 children enrolled. Two of the outdoor pools had opened the previous weekend, with the third scheduled to open that Friday. There is a new aquatics brochure available detailing the Learn-to-Swim program, as well as water exercise. The Discovery high ropes course at Bethesda Park is also open; this is mainly for groups, but individuals and families may use the course during “Discovery Days” (information is available online at www.DPRPLayMore.org). The seventh annual Juneteenth celebration of African-American Independence Day was to be held on June18th from 1-8 in the CCB plaza, starting with a unity march at 12:30 from N. C. Mutual to CCB plaza.
Human Relations: Larry Revelle thanked people for calls about housing discrimination. They are also sponsoring programs that will benefit the community, including a health symposium on June 25th at Holton Career and Resource Center from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
City/County Planning: Karen Swope said she had received calls about vehicles parked at intersections for sale; intersections at Smith Road and at Snow Hill on North Roxboro Road were particularly noted, and were referred to DOT; “No Parking” signs were placed, which solved the problem. She asked residents to let her know about any other intersections where this was occurring.
PROGRAM
Lt. David Addison spoke about the Bull City Hot Sheet. The Bull City Hot Sheet was originally published by the police department, then the Herald-Sun started publishing it on Mondays, noting that it increases their sales that day. Since it is now being published, it is no longer being posted to the PAC lists. However, it can be accessed through the Herald-Sun website. Anyone with information concerning a person appearing on the hot sheet can call Crimestoppers after calling 911, and Crimestoppers creates a log and gives a cash reward for information leading to an arrest in a felony. You can call them if you have information on the person but don’t actually know where he is, but if you see him and know where he is call 911 first. The hot sheet has dropped the number of active warrants by 5,000 (it started at 50,000), and they are adding a new person to the warrant squad.
Some asked if some of the reduction had been due to records being purged, and Lt. Addition said that no, the reductions were because people have actually been found.
Another person asked about the statute of limitation. He said there is none for a felony, but for a misdemeanor it is 2 years. However, a warrant never runs out once it has been taken out.
There was another question about the percentage of multiple warrants, and he said they don’t know, since those statistics have not been done. There is a statewide network for warrants (NC Aware), so they can be served anywhere in the state. Any warrant appearing there is alive; the site is supposed to be updated daily.
Cheryl announced that Duke University is doing a community assessment project, with 6 people walking around wearing gray polo shirts carrying handheld computers.
There is a change to the PAC brochures; Durham Businesses Against Crime is no longer meeting at Northgate Mall, but now meeting at Nasher Museum. If you go to the back door and knock, then a guard will let you in.
Nancy said she had noticed that people often get to the meetings a little after 6 and would like to suggest that, for the next meeting, the period from 6:00 to 6:15 be used as a meet-and-greet time for people to mingle, with the formal meeting starting afterwards. The length of the meetings will remain about the same. She and Cheryl also noted that it can be hard to come up with a presenter for every meeting, so they have created a suggestion box for people to suggest meeting topics.
David Harris spoke about National Night Out, saying that he hoped everyone had registered with the city and the national association. The registration website can be accessed from the DPD home page. June 29th is the last day to register. The purpose of National Night Out is to let criminals know that the community is out to take the streets back. Last year Durham had 114-115 communities holding National Night Out events. The city will have a representative visit your event if you register. Durham has won an award every year except the first year for the number of participants in a city our size. There is a trial program in Texas this year having NNO the first Tuesday in October, but everyone else will celebrate it on August 2nd. There is no charge for registration, but you need to fill out the city’s registration form in order to close off a section of a street. You can only close off city streets, not state ones. Cheryl said her neighborhood got squirt guns, water balloons, and colored chalk for the children, who did artwork on the street.
It was announced that Public Safety Day would be held on June 25th at Target at South Square, and is a good place to get literature for their information table for NNO. Someone said they go to multiple PAC meetings and find that people don’t know how to get a neighborhood watch started, so it was suggested that we have Officer Hall do a presentation on this.
Cheryl said she had spoken to Michelle from DPS, and they have given us this room at no charge, even though it usually costs $55/hour, so we should thank DPS.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherry Coulter
Secretary