Members of the Police Liaison Committee met with representatives of the Sixth Police District this week to address ongoing issues like prostitution and drug dealing in the Gayborhood, suggesting personal and electronic surveillance are needed to monitor crime in the area.
Sixth District Capt. Brian Korn acknowledged that “crime has come back strong” in the Gayborhood after the summer, but noted that, although police have pushed for surveillance cameras — and a plan was underway several years ago to install such devices in the area — funding fell short, indefinitely stalling the project.
Korn did not have information on how much cameras would cost, but said the equipment itself is not too expensive — but connecting the cameras to a monitoring station, and ensuring the cameras are monitored around the clock, could be.
Committeemembers said they would work with other neighborhood and civic associations in the area, as well as lobby local lawmakers, to garner funding for such a project.
In addition to electronic surveillance, Community Relations Officer Brown said the committee and community members should form an “eyes and ears” program, in which they work together to monitor the neighborhood on foot and share information about trends they observe with the police, an idea committeemembers were interested in pursuing.
Korn noted that residents, business owners and visitors to the area also need to take an active role in ensuring their own safety.
Even simple methods like refraining from placing a cell phone down beside you or walking while texting can be safeguards against crime, Korn said.
“These phones are like gold to people,” he added. “They could be worth $300, $400, $500. And if you’re not paying attention and put it down on a table, someone’s going to take it. You have to hold onto it.”
Committeemembers raised concerns that, when a crime is committed, community members often report that the police response time is lengthy.
Korn noted that, when the department transitioned to its new Police Service Area format — in which a small core group of officers are assigned to a section of the district — they knew one of the disadvantages could be longer response times. Since the same officers are responding to crimes within the area — as opposed to any available officers responding — he explained that it may take them a bit longer to go from one job to the next, as they have to prioritize the calls.
Korn advised that if a call has not been answered in a sufficient amount of time, citizens should call back and inquire.
He also said community members should be making calls when they believe they’ve witnessed drug activity. He said the district doesn’t receive much information about suspected drug deals in the neighborhood, but can work more effectively to target certain individuals and areas if they’re supplied with witness information.
Currently, however, Korn said the police are unable to increase patrols in the area, as the human capital is not available.
The Sixth District did recently amp up its ability to combat prostitution in the neighborhood, as several of its members were trained in Vice and, as such, are now qualified to perform prostitution arrests — a task previously undertaken only by the Vice Unit.
“We don’t have to depend on an outside unit now,” Korn said. “We have to make the undesirables know that they can’t do business here. We have to make this an area that they wouldn’t want to be.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].