As property crimes increase, more neighbors are on patrol

Cliff's Comments: I thought this was quite interesting. I have been thinking about how this is a great idea for Normal Station and I would love to see us neighbors join together to make something like this happen. I am aware that there was an effort to have a neighborhood patrol for awhile but I haven't seen anything lately in that regard. Cliff H, Marion Avenue, Normal Station


Published in the Christian Science Monitor


By Patrik Jonsson Patrik Jonsson – Tue Jan 27, 3:00 am ET

Atlanta – It's not unusual for Jennifer Litkowiec to have problems with her husband's off-the-wall ideas, but this one took the cake.

Hispanic gangs had seeped into the couple's quiet corner of the working-class town of Cudahy, Wis., just south of Milwaukee, stealing garage door openers and returning later to score the contents.

So what was Jason Litkowiec's plan? Shine a light on the night. "I finally had enough," he says.

Against his wife's loud protestations, the young steamfitter joined a dozen other neighborhood men and set up the Rosewood night patrol.

Armed with nothing but flashlights and cellphones, the group followed suspicious cars and even set up an impromptu sting when a neighbor left town and forgot to close his garage door. They called in police to arrest the suspects after a brief chase.

High foreclosure rates, a spike in brazen break-ins, and slashed police budgets are causing turmoil in America's transitioning urban communities, auguring what Atlanta anticrime activist Larry Ely calls an "urban war."

So far, this is a largely unarmed conflict defined by nighttime jogger patrols with flashing headlamps, unofficial block patrols with cop-like "beats," and neighborhood all-Twitter alarms – short text messages dubbed "BOLO" or "be on the lookout" when something potentially dangerous or illegal happens.

A sense of humor helps. Some who take part have signed on to the "World Superhero Registry," an online outfit where a member must be one "who does good deeds or fights crime while in costume."

But like other historical flash points, when the public becomes personally involved in crime fighting, vigilantism becomes a threat, experts say, especially if government appears powerless.

"When you go broke, be creative. Outsource criminal justice back to the people," says Peter Scharf, a criminologist at Tulane University in New Orleans. "When you go through a very chaotic period with crime, people are going to become more innovative."

Hard numbers on the rise in amateur crime fighters don't exist, but policing experts say the trend is noticeable. At the National Sheriffs Association (NSA), which runs some 26,000 Neighborhood Watch groups, activity has risen to nearly the levels of the winter of 2001, following 9/11.

NSA crime prevention specialist Robbie Woodson links the uptick directly to the Congressional decision in 2007 to cut community policing grants by 68 percent, much of which had been aimed at low-level crime in transitional neighborhoods. Ms. Woodson says President Obama's inaugural call for "a new era of responsibility" took direct aim at what she sees as a widening gap – both perceived and real – between criminal activity and the ability of police to control it.

"It's an absolute perfect storm," says Woodson. "[Federal policing grants] were cut before the economic crisis, which is just now playing out on the law enforcement front. And now you have people being laid off, and some of those people are going to start stealing in a variety of different ways."

Rising property crimes a factor
Though violent crimes are down across the nation, property crimes by many accounts are rising. (FBI crime figures for 2008 won't be available until fall.) Transitional neighborhoods around major urban centers are particularly prone to the cause-and-effect between rising crime and community patrols, as national migration figures slow and more and more Americans hunker down.

"When we retreat, we feel vulnerable," says Gregg Barak, a criminologist at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti.

What seems to have sparked many groups isn't just low level crime, but high profile incidents and brazen tactics like bashing in front doors to get at large flat-screen TVs. The murder in Atlanta of a bartender by four armed bandits on Jan. 7 resulted in the creation of a group called Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC). In the span of two weeks, the group had almost 5,000 members on Facebook.

"I'm not sure the total level of crime is changing significantly, and the conveyor belt that produces crime is more or less the same," says Robert Friedmann, a criminologist at Georgia State University. "The problem comes when you have a human story that suddenly has a new twist."

Two years ago, Lisa Cater was part of a real estate boomlet in East Atlanta Village, a community about three miles from downtown, as mostly white suburbanites flooded back to the city. But now that movement has largely stopped, many houses are empty, and criminals have become more brazen and open, she says.

"This is the worst I've ever seen it," she says, describing what she calls a "property-driven turf war."

With her partner, Maria Midboe, Ms. Cater patrols her street in an imposing black Jeep, often using a high-power spotlight to shine on suspicious characters.

"The only way we can make a difference is to take personal responsibility and do something about it," she says.

Amateur crime fighters like Cater can be found across the nation.

In Plano, Texas, residents created a watch group to look after vacant and abandoned homes. In New Orleans, groups like Silence is Violence are using Twitter alarms and cell phone messages to fight that city's violent crime wave.

Clayton County, Ga., is one of a growing number of police departments putting arrest and warrant information online in map form to give residents a sense of who has had previous run-ins with the law.

And though Twitter alarms and other tech-savvy warning systems can sometimes ratchet up the perception of crime rates, they're also being used effectively: An Atlanta break-in captured by home cameras and then put up on YouTube helped police catch several suspects last month.

"Just by the nature of crime trends in the metropolitan environment and this financial environment, it's difficult to put the resources on the street that we may have had in the 1980s," says Cudahy Police Chief Tom Poellot. "Police can't do this alone."

Citizen awareness is part of the foundation of modern policing, born when 19th century London bobbies used whistles to call in civilian backup.

But community fear has in the past turned to violence in a country where vigilantism has sometimes flourished.

The Nation magazine recently reported that after hurricane Katrina, vigilantes killed several black men for simply walking through a neighborhood. Several registered sex offenders have also been killed. Citizen patrols became a controversy in New Haven, Conn., in 2007 when the Edgewood Park Defense Patrol included some armed with licensed firearms.

"If it's largely white citizen groups trying to protect new turf, you run the risk of creating flash points," says Stan Stojkovic, dean of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. "But to me, this is a much different kind of situation. There's hope in this kind of thing, as long as it evolves into ... a form of integration."

The power of "Hey!"
That's what Lewis Cartee is careful to address with the more gung-ho members of his block patrol group in East Atlanta, known as Safe Atlanta for Everyone (SAFE). He calls the group "a glorified neighborhood watch" where he uses Google maps to chart out "beats" for some 40 residents. He says he stresses what he calls "the power of 'Hey.'"

"You've got to go meet people, because the guy down the street you're suspicious of could be a good guy, and you run the risk of putting that guy off," says Mr. Cartee. "No way do you want that patrol being seen as us versus them."

Done inclusively, neighborhood patrols can be a powerful deterrent, says Rufus Terrill, an Atlanta mayoral candidate.

"Bad guys don't like to be seen doing things," says Mr. Terrill. "They don't want people's eyes on them. They fear that as much as a gun."

In Cudahy, it took Litkowiec and his band of civilian crime fighters a mere three weeks to effectively deter the garage robbers in the Rosewood neighborhood.

"We basically figured we should be able to outsmart some common thieves," says Litkowiec, who last week was handily elected to the city council on an anti-crime platform.

Man Shot by Burglar in Cordova

Cliff's Comments: I am glad the Cordova resident was not killed or more seriously hurt in this incident. He heard a noise at 3 am, went outside to investigate, and was beaten and shot by two men who were apparently burglars.

While his motives where honorable, his tactics might not have been very wise.

If you hear a noise and think there might be threats outside in your yard, gather up your family and barricade yourself and your family in the safest room. Call 911. Wait in the room. Defend yourself and your family if the burglars try to get into the room.

And, if you have a firearm and intend to use it to defend yourself or your family, you really need to know what you are doing. It is truly a life or death matter.

Get some training in the proper use of firearms for self defense. You need to know the state laws regarding the use of deadly force and you also need to be proficient with your firearm.

A good place to start would be to take the safety class that is required for the state of Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit (HCP). The class teaches you the law regarding the use of deadly force and you get some practice shooting at the firing range. This is an excellent class to take for anyone who lives in the Memphis area.

I am aware of two places in Memphis where you can get some self defense training. The closest place to Normal Station that I am aware of is Rangemaster. Another location is RangeUSA in Barlett. Both facilities have the training that can get you started on the road to a safer, more secure family. Cliff H, Marion Avenue, Normal Station

Reported by: Dana Rebik Email: danarebik@myeyewitnessnews.com Last Update: 1/28 7:48 pm

Cordova- A man catches a pair of burglars in the act and is shot in the process.

It happened around 3:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 28, 2009 in the 8400 block of Trinity Road in Cordova. That's just a few blocks east of Germantown Parkway and right across the street from the Cordova Library.

Still wearing his hospital bracelet and scrubs, Rusty McClure says doctors told him a few inches one way or the other, and he may not be alive.

"The bullet went in my stomach missed my kidney and arteries and intestines and went out my lower back," says McClure.

McClure says he was inside his house when he heard noise in his backyard. He grabbed his gun and went outside and was attacked. McClure says one man hit him with an ax handle and another pointed a gun in his face.

"I saw the gun and I stood up and pushed it down and that’s when I heard the shot,” says McClure.

it was right in my face I stood up and pushed it away it shot my stomach and out my back")

After he was shot, McClure grabbed for his own gun.

"I aimed and didn't want to hit his chest or head so I shot him right in the fanny."

The Cordova man says during the whole ordeal, the one thing on his mind was protecting his family.

"I thank God for the way things went down. I was scared for my wife and my mother and things could have terribly gone wrong if they got through that doorway."

McClure says the men were wearing black ski masks and gloves and one of them said "shoot Johnny shoot". Memphis Police have not made any arrests in this case.

McClure says the men were about 5’10” and wearing all black, with black ski masks and gloves. If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.

33 Memphis Carjackings in 26 Days

Reported by: Kevin Holmes Email: kholmes@myeyewitnessnews.com Last Update: 1/26 10:36 pm

MEMPHIS, TN - The city of Memphis is averaging more than carjacking a day in 2009. On January 26th, 33 carjackings reported to police.

If you think it can't happen to you, just ask Decorian Collins. Collins was the 29th person carjacked in Memphis this year. He was carjacked in his own front yard. "My window comes down and I see a gun, so I turn around, run back in and call the police. After he pulled the gun out, he pulled out the driveway as fast as he could." Collins wasn't hurt, and his car was found a few hours later. The bad news - he's out $150 because his car was taken to the Memphis City Impound Lot, but his actions while being carjacked could've possibly saved his life. Collins gave up his keys without a struggle and called police immediately. "If you're not able to protect yourself...he has a gun and you don't. Just give him your stuff, that's all you can do, you can't fight or that's your life."

While you can't always prevent a carjacking, there are things you can do to make yourself less of a target. It may sound like common sense, but make sure your doors are always locked. That way the crooks can't get inside your car if you're caught at a red light or caught in your driveway. Memphis Police say you should aways remain alert and above all, trust your instinct.

Still shaken by his experience, Collins says it could've been much worse. "I'm thankful I got my car back. They found my car and no one got hurt." If you are carjacked, or if your car is just stolen, Memphis Police say you should be able to report the make, model and license plate number of your car. That way police can put out a broadcast to recover your vehicle.

Town Hall Meeting To Focus on Crime

A town hall meeting will focus on ways to protect yourself from crime and to push for new laws in the Tennessee Legislature to combat crime.

The meeting is set for Feb. 7 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Crichton College Auditorium at 255 N. Highland St. Guess will include District Attorney Bill Gibbons, Memphis Police Col. Jeff Clark and state legislators.

City Council member Jim Strickland is organizing the meeting. Details: 576-6786 or jim.strickland@memphistn.gov.

District Attorney To Add Burglary Focus

Print | Front Page | Email this story | Email reporter

You have entered an invalid email address
To:
* Required
From:
* Required
Message:

TOM WILEMON | The Daily News

You have entered an invalid email address
From (email):* Required

Message:* Required

Bill Gibbons

Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons plans to assign five prosecutors to exclusively handle burglary cases and will also push for law changes to keep burglars behind bars.

He outlined the plans last week at a meeting of the Midtown Security Community, an organization committed to increasing communication between police, residents, businesses and churches to combat crime. About 80 people attended the meeting, including City Council

Chairman Myron Lowery and Memphis Police Col. Billy Garrett, commander of the Union Center Precinct.

Burglaries have increased in the Midtown area over the past month, and Garrett said he believes experienced burglars may be responsible. Some of these burglaries have occurred despite the presence of dogs, he said, and it appears that particular neighborhoods are being targeted.

Within the next two weeks, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office will assign five prosecutors to work exclusively with police on burglaries, Garrett said. Citywide, there has been a 10 percent increase in burglaries, Gibbons said.

Prosecutors have a heavy caseload because of a 40 percent increase in felony cases, which he attributed to more arrests by police.

Gibbons outlined legislation to address “the revolving door” that lets criminals out on parole or allows early releases so they can be repeat offenders. The legislation includes:

An expansion of the “Crooks with Guns” law that enhances mandatory sentences when certain crimes are committed with guns. This legislation would add more crimes.

• Imposition of tougher sentences for gang crimes, which would be defined as crimes committed by three or more individuals.
• Elimination of early parole for robbers who use guns to commit the crime.
• Hiring additional prosecutors statewide.
• Revamping state laws that go easy on criminals convicted of burglaries.

The system makes it easy for burglars to be repeat offenders because of light sentences, Gibbons said. First-time offenders qualify for judicial diversion, which allows them to avoid prison time and have their record wiped clean, he said. With second-time offenders, under the current system, the courts have the “presumption that they’re entitled to probation,” he said.

Even with a third conviction, a burglar is likely to receive only a three-year sentence, actually be ordered to serve about 30 percent of that time and then be eligible for early release if prison populations reach 90 percent of capacity, Gibbons said.

Another change would mandate that multiple charges and consecutive sentences be imposed if a burglar does multiple break-ins on the same day.

Operation Safe Community, a joint initiative by law enforcement, government and business leadership to make Memphis/Shelby County one of the safest communities of its size in the country by 2011, will distribute information about the legislation.

Garrett outlined ways people can protect themselves from burglaries.

“I believe in alarm systems,” he said, also recommending signs be posted about the protection systems.

Another good idea is to record serial numbers, he said.

A proposal for my Normal Station neighbors

Hi neighbors.

I don't know many of you personally, but I have waved and smiled at a lot of you! I have lived in Normal Station, Memphis, TN 38111 since 2001. I lived first on Kearney in a rental property with my daughter. I was married in 2002 and now I live on Marion with my wife and her son- my daughter is a young adult now and has moved on to other things in other places.

There is a group called Midtown Security Community that is working closely with their local MPD precinct to make their neighborhood safer. I think it would be cool if we had a group like that organized for Normal Station.

From Midtown's website:

Overall Goals of Midtown Security Community:

To increase conversation between Midtown businesses, neigh- borhoods and Union Station Police Precinct about how we can collaborate on security issues
To share evidence-based security practices that support Midtown
To continue to assess progress and next steps for this group (e.g. additional meetings, increased participation by businesses, neighborhoods, special interest groups, etc.)

Looks good to me. Let's do it.

Interested? Email Me! Cliff H