Partners Against Crime District II Minutes
E.K. Powe Elementary School, 6:00 PM
March 19, 2001
Introductions
27 people in attendance
*Nomination of New Co-Chair for PAC II
1. Discussion; nomination of Newman Aguiar for co-chair.
2. Vote: unanimous approval. Newman spoke briefly on the process of becoming interested in PAC and that the level of activity spurred him to take a more active role.
*Street light request update
Brooke recounted how the February 2000 request was handled (a fax to the substation addressed to Tony Scott and Captain Morris). Brooke asked for a volunteer to determine which streets have not yet received attention. Julie Holmes and Cheryl Sweeney agreed to take this on this project. They will be in contact with Duke Power and help open lines of communication between PAC II and Duke Power. In addition, they will follow up on future requests and report back to PAC II.
*Neighborhood Outreach on 3/17 to No Man’s Land
Statistics of the survey can be viewed and downloaded at: http://www.pac2durham.com/outreach/outreach.htm Brooke recounted the events of the outreach. In District 2, there is an area located between the established neighborhoods of Trinity Park, Old North Durham and Duke Park that is currently known as “No Man’s Land”. On March 17, 2001, this area was the site of an outreach project coordinated by PAC II members with the help of the Durham Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, and other city departments. The purpose of the outreach was to invite volunteers from the surrounding neighborhoods to go door-to-door with officers and survey residents about issues relating to crime, as well as, to bring information to the community about crime prevention programs. The emphasis was to help residents stop crime before it happens, and to share information on resources available in their community. Residents were invited to join PAC II in finding sustainable solutions for their community.
Newman discussed the scope of the project. There were 88 completed surveys. Copies of the results and the survey questions were passed around the room. Comments from the room:
1. Observation that there was a consistent response to the survey by residents on Green that they are concerned about gang activity and loitering.
2. 300 block of Trinity: residents feel their lives are threatened on a regular basis; the Latino population was very appreciative of the effort, but many are fearful of retaliation from those involved in gang activity and drug dealing.
3. One of the participants in the Outreach noted that this event was one of the most gratifying, yet disturbing events in which he had been involved. On West Trinity street, he was surprised by the level of unemployment and was disturbed by the destabilizing effect on the community. Further, he suggested that this kind of project should be replicated in other areas of the district as it helps put a face on these troubled areas that we read about in the news.
Newman noted that the results show that concerns differ from one street to the next, and that further analysis of the data will help shape the planning of future outreach projects.
4. Macon Street: Sheriff Department representative recounted his observations: he noted that there were a lot of children in the Latino households. Although the home’s external conditions were unkempt, interviewers found the interior to be clean and the children looked healthy. He recommended future cooperative efforts with other city services that would benefit the children, such as assistance with day care. He also pointed out that some Latino respondents could speak English and were willing to work with interviewers. This willingness could present an opportunity to build leadership within the area.
A suggestion was made that at the next outreach, if the surveys include police “performance” questions, then perhaps the survey teams should not include uniformed officers (or have them perform in a different role), because some interviewers felt that answers might be skewed. Another attendee noted that during his canvassing many respondents were reluctant to be active in PAC because they were afraid of visibility and deportation. Brooke encouraged attendees to stay involved and help in formulating a plan to solve the problems in this area.
There is a house on Markham rented by a Latino family. The landlord charges them $650/mo. for a place without a sink. This is the kind of problem that PAC needs to focus on.
Jim Adams passed along his congratulations to the PAC participants for the large turnout at the event. He mentioned that he can address some of these housing inadequacies from a crime prevention perspective, informing landlords of the safety shortcomings of their properties, such as lack of deadbolt locks, window locks, lighting, etc.
PAC incurred a charge for translation service on the day for $90. It was voted to approve writing a grant to cover that expense.
There was appreciation in the room expressed for the city agencies involved in the project: Sheriff’s Department, Durham Police Department, and other city departments, such as Housing and Community Development, that provided resources and support for PAC that made the event such a success.
*Update on Redistricting: This topic will be moved to another meeting as there are still issues being decided.
* Posting of Problem Properties to the Web-site
1. Introduction of Idea: Several rental properties known to be drug dens or substandard housing were photographed during the Outreach on 3/17. The issue is whether to publish these on the PAC II web site, along with the address and name of the property owner.
2. Discussion: there was general approval for the concept. There were also several cautions to look for legal advice to avoid any litigation. Major Beard reiterated that the address and property owner data is public information. A volunteer task force was formed (Jeff White – coordinator, Frank Crigler, Mike Shiflett, Katherine O’Brien, Pam Spaulding and Cheryl Sweeney) to look into the legal issues and see how this idea can be implemented in order to achieve the desired result of getting known slumlords to rehabilitate their properties. Community Life Court was established to rein in the landlords by giving them due process to take care of their properties, and get control of the situation and PAC needs to see how it can best supplement these actions. Cynthia knows of a Walltown landlord who has a property in violation and is about to be taken to community life court. This owner is trying to sell the property and thus, unload the problems. Cynthia said that these problems travel to the prospective new owner, who would be responsible for correcting the violations.
*Community and Neighborhood Watch Development
This will be discussed in more detail at the next meeting. For now, suggestions were taken on how to focus on establishing active watch programs.
1. Get representatives from active neighborhood watches to discuss successes and problems at PAC meeting.
2. Learn how to maintain enthusiasm at the block and neighborhood level.
3. Post a list of neighborhood watch events that are taking place in the various neighborhoods so that they can be placed on the web site to share information with others who are unaware of the event. Let PAC leadership know about local events so that they can participate in them.
4. Learn how we can work with adjacent neighborhoods and work on collaborative projects re: neighborhood watch.
5. How to work effectively with the police.
6. How to identify a good block captain for neighborhood watches.
*Update on Speed Trailer: used 2x on 3/8 and 3/9 for 15 hours up on Stadium Drive. Jim Adams requested that neighborhoods interested in having the speed trailer monitor on a particular street email or call him to get on the list.
ADJOURN
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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
Commander: Capt. Tommy Morris, 560-4582;
Community Services: Tony Scott, 517-7139, toscott@ci.durham.nc.us;
Crime Prevention Officer: Jim Adams, 560-4582, jadams@ci.durham.nc.us
Dept of Housing/Community Development: Cynthia Mebane-Watts, cmebane-watts@ci.durham.nc.us, 560-4570; inspectors: Kevin Easter, 560-4570/ext.246; Nixon Alexander, 560-4570/ext. 224.
Durham Impact Team, 560-9137, x266
Durham Animal Control, 560-0630, 560-0633 (f); animalcontrol@co.durham.nc.us
Durham Animal Shelter, 560-0640, 560-0643 (f)
Durham Affordable Housing Coalition: Lorisa Seibel, 683-1185, x25, lorisa@dahc.org
Durham Public Works/Urban Forestry: Chuck Harris, 560-4228, charris@ci.durham.nc.us
PAC Grants Coordinator: Valerie Anderson, 560-4309, 560-4899, vanderson@ci.durham.nc.us
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Database: http://sbi.jus.state.nc.us/sor/MainText.htm