Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jun 2002
Source: Fayetteville Observer-Times (NC)
Copyright: 2002 Fayetteville Observer-Times
Contact:  http://www.fayettevillenc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150
Author: Christina DeNardo

COPS PROGRAM KEEPS WATCH ON TROUBLED NEIGHBORHOODS

Johnnie Bryant doesn't get much sleep.

The 72-year-old retiree spends many nights on the front porch of his home 
on B Street.

He sees people dealing drugs.

He hears gunfire.

"There's always something going on. There hasn't been any murders, but I'm 
expecting them," said Bryant, who has lived in the neighborhood more than 
20 years.

Young men dressed in brightly colored shorts and T-shirts gather on porches 
or in front yards, some of which are piled with chairs and rusty shopping 
carts. Neighbors said they've seen teen-agers riding bicycles in the early 
morning hours.

Police say the men are either looking for customers, to whom they will sell 
drugs, or cops.

"At 2 a.m., what else are you doing?" asks Lt. Richard Porter.

The location of the neighborhood, blocks from a Greyhound bus station and a 
major thoroughfare -- Eastern Boulevard -- makes it attractive to 
transients, police said.

"We've thought about moving out, but these are my roots," said Elizabeth 
Bolton, who is 57 and has lived in the neighborhood all her life.

"This is home."

Donnie Anderson, who leads the neighborhood's community watch group and is 
pastor of the nearby C and Adams Street Church of God, said he has seen 
drug deals occur across the street from the church, which also has a school.

Bolton, who lives on B Street, recalled the sharp contrast between the 
neighborhood in which she grew up and the one she lives in today. She 
remembered spending summer afternoons walking through a nearby park and 
dipping her feet in the creek. There was a zoo, a roller skating rink and a 
community pool.

Today, the neighborhood between Person and Grove streets consists of small, 
modest homes, some decades old. The porches of some are decorated with 
brightly colored flowers, and some residents fly American flags.

But other homes have decayed. Police suspect there are three drug houses in 
the neighborhood.

The pool, zoo and the park that Bolton remembers are only memories. Bolton 
said she doesn't allow her granddaughter out of the house unsupervised.

In a neighborhood such as this, regular police patrols have done little to 
curb crime. In November, police began dispatching an additional officer to 
patrol the area -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Known as COPS -- 
Continuous Observation Patrol Site -- patrol officers rotate in and out of 
the neighborhood on one-hour shifts.

COPS also has been used in the Jasper Street area off Murchison Road.

"This (COPS) is for areas that have more problems than normal," said Lt. 
Orvao Cox. "Something that is blatant, that just needs taken care of," Cox 
said.

Lots Of Activity

Police from March 1 to May 31 responded to 65 calls for disturbances, four 
disturbances in which people had weapons, 20 calls for loud music and 10 
thefts.

Since January, police have made 48 felony arrests, 215 misdemeanor arrests, 
issued 352 state citations and conducted 364 field interviews.

When the latest version of COPS started in November 2001, the coverage area 
was to include Adams and B streets. It quickly expanded.

Now, officers patrol from Kennedy Street to Eastern Boulevard and from 
Person Street to Grove Street.

"If you don't stay on (the drug dealers) and follow them, they move over 
two blocks; all you did was move the problem," said Capt. Tom Bergamine, 
who commands the Campbellton district, which includes the B Street area.

In November and December, police conducted 556 directed patrols of the 
neighborhood, had done 287 field interviews, arrested 66 people for 
misdemeanors, 14 people for felonies and issued 166 citations.

Some of the neighborhood's drug dealers had been arrested, and some moved out.

Police moved out of the neighborhood in December. Things were improving, 
they thought. Many returned, though. "We thought we had a handle on the 
problem," Bergamine said. "Then we had a couple of drive-by shootings."

In January, police again zeroed in on the neighborhood, putting an 
additional officer on a continuous patrol.

In addition to adhering to a policy of zero tolerance, police officers look 
for violations of city codes, which will be investigated by the 
department's nuisance abatement team.

Some of the people who are arrested in the neighborhood cannot return to 
the neighborhood, a condition for their release from jail. By restricting 
access to the neighborhood, police hope to keep some problems -- and 
criminals -- out.

The Campbellton district's Special Problems Unit and mounted patrol have 
also helped with directed patrols of the neighborhood, specifically in the 
C and Adams Street area.

"They're everywhere," Bryant said of the police presence. "Every time you 
need them, they are there."

Although crime continues to plague the neighborhood, things are improving, 
Bryant said. "It used to be worse, but it's getting better."

Anderson said neighbors feel more comfortable, especially at night. "We are 
seeing a major decrease in criminal activity," he said.

Bergamine said, "We know that sometimes we never resolve the problem, but 
we need to get where the quality of life is livable."

Other Successes

This is not the first time police have used continuous observation to 
monitor a high-crime neighborhood. Porter, who now heads the Cross Creek 
district's Special Problems Unit, started COPS two years ago.

Porter wanted to rid the Stanbury Drive area in north Fayetteville of drug 
houses.

He said the drug dealers would position men with radios on nearby Corinna 
Street. When police approached, the men would radio back to the drug house, 
giving the dealers time to hide or throw the drugs in woods behind the 
homes, Porter said.

Neighbors complained, and Porter gave residents of the homes, as well as 
those who tended to hang out there, a flier informing them they had been 
placed on the COPS list.

"You will remain on this list until the alleged illegal activity stops, or 
you will relocate," the flier said.

The men laughed, Porter said.

But within weeks, police were making dozens of arrests involving drugs and 
stolen cars. Within 45 days, the drug houses closed.

A major source of income for one owner disappeared.

"He couldn't pay the electric bill. He couldn't pay the rent," Porter said. 
"So, he came out of the house and said, 'I'm going to pack up and move out 
because I can't make it here."

'We Don't Pass By'

On a recent Thursday night, Officer Jason Bullard, who was patrolling the B 
Street neighborhood, drove up to a house and greeted the men who had 
gathered in front. It was about 8:30 p.m.

"Hello. How are you doing? Staying out of trouble?"

The men appeared to be in their 20s.

No one seem surprised when Bullard stopped. They've seen him before. When 
Bullard rolled down his window, one man slowly turned around. He hardly 
made eye contact with the patrolman. Another laughed when Bullard told them 
to "Just say no."

"These guys are just standing around waiting for a customer to pull up," 
Bullard said.

Before the constant police presence, pretty much all lawmen could do was 
drive past the corner. Patrolman might see suspicious activity, such as the 
beginnings of a drug deal, but if the officer was dispatched to another 
call he had no choice but to leave.

Under COPS, a second patrolman is in the neighborhood to watch for 
suspicious activity and talk to concerned neighbors.

"We don't pass by. We stop now," Cox said.

Residents have noticed.

"The police wouldn't pull up and get out of their cars and talk to 
neighbors like they do now," said Anderson, who has worked and lived in the 
neighborhood for five years.

For the program to work, officers must get out of their cars and talk to 
people, Porter said. The field interviews provide lawmen with a valuable 
tool when a crime occurs. For example, when an officer sees suspicious 
people, the officer may interview them and write their answers on a yellow 
index card, known as an FI card.

"Through FI cards, we see who is coming in and who lives there," Cox said. 
"A certain person in a certain area at a certain time might not mean 
anything at the time, but if there is a break in, it gives us a lead to 
work on."

Neighborhood Changes

Bolton's mother Christine Jeffcoat and her family have lived in the B 
Street area for five generations. Jeffcoat, who is 80, grew up in a house 
on the 500 block of Grove Street, which at one time was a dirt road. A 
pharmacy is there now. For the most part, life was quiet then.

"We didn't have no excitement like we do now," Jeffcoat said. Today, 
Jeffcoat lives with her daughter and her husband, John, on B Street, a 
couple miles east of downtown Fayetteville.

"We didn't have no prostitutes back then. We didn't even know what they 
were," she said.

Calls Pour In

At the police station, the calls at the Campbellton police district are 
pouring in. It's a Thursday night in late May, and Officer Bullard drops 
off a few reports to his supervisor, jumps in his patrol car and heads to 
the B and Adams Street area.

"We hear that the B Street area is jumping so we're going to head this 
way," he said.

Cars, with stereos blaring, drive through the streets. People stand outside 
their homes, talking to neighbors and friends. Or they walk down the 
streets toward the convenience stores and fast food restaurants on nearby 
Eastern Boulevard. The suspected drug houses attract addicts, who quickly 
pull up, pick up and then drive away, police said.

At about 9 p.m., Bullard spots a car with tinted windows.

"Looks like that tint is too dark," he said as he followed the car to the 
nearby bus station. Bullard asked the driver for his license and 
registration, and the officer smells alcohol. The driver handed Bullard two 
40-ounce beer cans. Bullard tested the man's breath for alcohol, and he 
registered .08. The man was arrested.

Fayetteville police said they do not have a timeline to stop patrolling the 
B Street area. Some residents wish they could stay awhile, but they know 
police can't patrol indefinitely.

"I pray that they stay down here," Bolton said. "But I don't know if it's 
realistic."

Lawmen agree that other neighborhoods could use the extra patrols, the 
24-hour supervision and the nuisance abatement that COPS provides.

Still, Bolton is partial to her neighborhood.

"Special emphasis has to be made to improve this area," she said. "If you 
want downtown to prosper, you have to keep this part of downtown 
prosperous, too."
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