Pubdate: Wed, 26 Dec 2007
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2007 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Joe Logan, Inquirer Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States - News)

GET CRIME OFF STREET? THEY SEE ONE WAY

Camden Residents Hope A Change Limits All Kinds Of Traffic.

Making his daily rounds delivering mail, Steve  Carmichael walks some 
of the meanest streets in Camden.

Open-air drug sales, violence, music blaring from cars  - the Whitman 
Park neighborhood has it all.

"It's a war out there," Carmichael said last week.

But it's also where he and his family live.

Carmichael, who returned home to Camden in 1999 after  13 years in 
the military and five years in South  Carolina, had to make a choice. 
Should he do nothing,  or should he get involved?

He got involved. In addition to being acting president  of his 
neighborhood association, Carmichael is a member  of Camden's 
District Council Collaborative Board, a  liaison between the 
community and the police and the  city.

Thanks to a petition that Carmichael and another  volunteer took door 
to door, a crime-fighting  initiative pushed by the board will go 
into effect in  about a week: Louis Street, in the heart of 
Whitman  Park, is going one-way for a narrow 11-block stretch  from 
Kaighns Avenue south to Sheridan Street.

It might not sound like much, but police and  criminologists say it 
could make the dangerous corridor  easier for police to monitor and 
more livable.

"I can't say making Louis Street one-way will be a  silver bullet for 
all the problems, but it is one of  the things we can do," Camden 
Police Capt. Al Handy  said. "We constantly deal with drug crime, 
violent and  disorderly behavior, and loud music."

Making heavily traveled, and heavily patrolled, Louis  Street one-way 
should cut down on traffic and give  police a better handle on who 
comes and goes, Handy  said.

"It's got a lot of vehicle traffic and a lot of  pedestrian traffic," 
he said. "There are also no stop  signs, which gives people the 
ability to get up a lot  of speed."

At Rutgers University-Camden, Jon'a Meyer, a professor  of 
criminology, said the move was a good one.

"Controlling traffic by making streets one-way or by  entirely 
closing them is an approach that has worked in  other cities," Meyer 
said. "It's especially effective  against folks coming into the area 
for, shall we say,  illicit reasons."

It's one more tactic in deterring crime, Meyer said,  like adding 
lighting in dark alleys and stop signs.

Ronald V. Clarke, a Rutgers professor of criminology in  Newark, also 
saw merit in the Camden move.

"I can't say I know of any research that has looked at  the impact of 
making streets one-way, but I would say  it is consistent with 
closing streets, and there are  quite a lot of studies that show that 
is effective," he  said.

The stretch of Louis Street to go one-way is a bleak,  stereotypical 
image of inner-city blight. Except for a  mini-mart at Kaighns, it is 
essentially barren of  businesses. A number of houses are boarded up, 
with  graffiti on one reading "Death before dishonor."

"It's a hot spot when we look at crime analysis," Handy  said, 
echoing City Councilman Bill Spearman, who  represents the Whitman 
Park area as part of Ward 2.

"This is a first step toward reclaiming and  revitalizing the 
neighborhood," said Spearman, who  added that he was excited about 
the cooperation among  the city, police and community.

Council approved the change to one-way after a  groundswell of 
community support and activism.

In 2006, the District Council Collaborative Board  identified Louis 
Street as a magnet for addicts in  search of drugs.

Working with police, the board also determined that the  street was 
not wide enough for two-way traffic,  resulting in more accidents 
than normal. It also noted  a lack of stop signs or stoplights. One 
helpful step,  the group decided, would be making Louis 
Street  one-way, a concept that found support in a 
petition  circulated among residents.

"There are a lot of law-abiding citizens in the  neighborhood who 
work hard every day and want to raise  their families in a safe 
environment," Handy said.

Supporters say making the street one-way and adding  stop signs will 
give the police something to enforce.  Troublemakers will be easier 
for police to spot when  they have to slow down or stop. Children 
headed to the  park will be safer crossing the street. And fewer cars 
could get sideswiped. All in the greater aim of making  Louis Street 
less friendly for troublemakers.

"We want to deter them from standing out there all day,  every day," 
Carmichael said. "I have genuine hope,  yes."
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