Progress on Chili Avenue -- but what about the rest of the city?


I can't complain about how the police have been handling Chili Avenue lately. But I have to wonder about the rest of the city.

I will have to say this for Police Chief Moore's anti-violence initiative reassigning over 60 officers normally on desk/investigation duty to patrol, particularly foot patrols -- on Chili Avenue, at least, it has had a major positive effect.

I can’t believe how empty Chili Ave has been recently, even before the cold snap. I haven’t seen ANY of the older gang bangers for a while. Yesterday afternoon a few of the younger boys tried getting business going on Post again, but they didn’t last long.

Today I decided I'd go clear the yard of the trash that had blown in because of the major windstorms, including along the Hobart side, which I've often avoided before because our Hobart Street "bad boyz" are often there. I was sweeping up the dirt from one of my porch pots that had blown down off the railing when I smelled the weed. Looked around the corner and saw two of our gang bangers in front of my downstairs neighbor's porch, smoking joints.

Well, this time I wasn't going to let them deter me. I got out a trash bag and started working my way around, from front to the side. Before I got very far down the side, lo and behold, the bangers moved, heading for the corner at Post.

I guess they know now they can't intimidate me. And of course, the nearly constant police presence, both in cars and on foot, has helped me to feel a lot more confident.

I just wish the same could be said for my neighbors back in Marketview Heights. While less is happening on the corners, it has all moved down the side streets and alleys, and from recent events it looks like a drug turf war is a real possibility. I can't say more than that without putting friends in jeopardy.

For them, not being able to talk to the crime prevention officer, whom they know and trust, has created a major road block. If the police want people to pass on information, they need to make it easy to do so. Getting a message telling them to call back in January is absurd.

Can you imagine if a 911 operator said "call back in January?" While the situation might not be immediately emergent, time is still of the essence.

Posted: Tue - December 5, 2006 at 06:39 PM          

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