It’s somewhat ironic, given that I’ve “taken back the blog” from the incessant crime blotter activities to be writing about — crime. But crime is in the news, or more exactly, what to do about crime. Mike Geake, councilman and regular here, has invited Guardian Angles founder Curtis Silwa to speak at the Health, Welfare and Public Safety Committee meeting later in the month. This has set off a firestorm of sorts. From the Hour:
“Let’s be blunt. In South Norwalk, it doesn’t feel safe. People there are constantly complaining that they don’t feel safe,” Geake said. Bringing in the Guardian Angels “is basically to have eyes on the street. Let’s face it, crime and drug dealing flourishes when nobody is looking.
“I really believe (the Guardian Angels) are needed, because one of the problems police have is the community really doesn’t want to get involved. When things happen, they don’t want to talk to the police,” Geake said. “And this is the sort of group that gets the neighborhoods involved.”
Well, let’s put some facts on the table. South Norwalk is a big place, and most of it is entirely safe. Rowayton, for example, is in South Norwalk. I’m sure the denizens of the Peoples Republic of Rowayton don’t have a problem talking to the police when criminal activity, like the peeping tom, happen. Unfortunately there are areas of South Norwalk that have higher incidents of criminal activity. You can start at the Police station, work your way down Woodward and discover drug dealers selling off the street without too much effort. Funny how the out of town BMW driving latte drinking buyers never seem to get picked up for possession. But back to the story:
Moccia and Rilling aren’t pleased.
While acknowledging crime exists in Norwalk, they labeled Geake’s invitation to Sliwa to speak to the committee as premature, and the prospect of Guardian Angels members patrolling Norwalk streets as problematic.
“I’m not quite sure what the purpose serves. I think it sends a message that we can’t take care of our city,” Moccia said. “Our police do a good job and I think if Curtis Sliwa wanted to just come and visit the city and learn what we’re doing is one thing. But coming to start the Guardian Angels, I don’t think it’s the right way to go.”
“What would Curtis Sliwa or what would they (Guardian Angels) do that we can’t do now?” Moccia added.
Talk of bringing the Guardian Angels to Norwalk comes four months after 17-year-old Tykwan Hunt was stabbed to death following a house party, and after a number of shootings and multiple undercover narcotics investigations that have netted small amounts of heroin, as well as crack and powder cocaine.
Rilling, who has estimated that 5 percent of Norwalk’s youth have affiliations to gangs, said Norwalk, like other communities, is experiencing juvenile crime and an increase in violent crime. The police chief said the appropriate responses are strong neighborhood watch programs and providing “opportunities for young people to channel their energies.” Bringing in the Guardian Angels, he continued, would “send the wrong message.”
“It’s going to make it sound like Norwalk is an undesirable community and it is not,” Rilling said.
The Guardian Angels have had mixed results in Connecticut. 16 years ago they appeared in New Haven as part of the greater community based policing effort. The threat of a looming civil rights law suit ended their involvement. More recently they partnered with Yeshiva of New Haven to patrol Edgewood Park. As an armed patrol. Needless to say, that proved to be quite controversial. Since this happened last year we can look back and see what happened. By January of this year, the Edgewood Defense Patrol took credit for a drop in crime, while the New Haven police department released statistics that showed that crime dropped throughout the city, with the biggest drop in the Edgewood area. From the New Haven Independent:
Patrol organizer Eli Greer credited those patrols — along with the work of other neighborhood groups, including the management team — with producing the dramatic drop in crime. (The patrollers put down their guns on Nov. 27.)
“We weren’t going to let the two Cs — the cops and the criminals — become a distraction,” Greer said Wednesday evening. The patrols, he said, “set a very clear marker for the administration — and for the criminals. There was a boundary this neighborhood wouldn’t tolerate.”
City Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts (pictured) said “good policing” made the difference.“We looked at what was happening in the district and responded appropriately” with more patrols, he said. The formation of the citizens patrol led the city to return cops to walking beats in Edgewood.
“I wouldn’t want to” downplay the “positive impact” that neighborhood groups had in helping to cut crime in District 10, Smuts said. But, he added, “they were patrolling for only a limited time, so I wouldn’t want to exaggerate [the impact] either.”
Citywide, crime dropped citywide, except for a jump in shootings. (Click here to read about that.)
Looking at crime stats is what helps drive rapid response to areas where criminal activity takes place. It’s a policing method, coupled with community based policing that can work effectively. Blanket statements about crime and safety in Norwalk, don’t move the discussion towards the nitty gritty of manpower, budget and patrols. It’s a worthy question to ask, as economically Norwalk seeks to diversify the tax rolls by encouraging tourism, jobs and retail. And the Guardian Angels don’t delve into the policy aspect. For that we may need Charlie’s Angels.
Retro:
Post Modern:
source: The Hour, Guardian Angel invited to Norwalk, By ROBERT KOCH, May 7, 2008
