THE HAWTHORNE HUDDLE MOTIVATING RESIDENTS TO RECLAIM A NEIGHBORHOOD

Transcription

1 THE HAWTHORNE HUDDLE MOTIVATING RESIDENTS TO RECLAIM A NEIGHBORHOOD MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT, MINNESOTA THE PROBLEM: ANALYSIS: RESPONSE: The Hawthore eighborhood i North Mieapolis was devastated by a high icidece of crime, icludig arcotics traffickig, vadalism, ad burglary; streets covered by litter; poor retal property maagemet; ad a decliig housig stock. The Mieapolis Police Departmet ad its Commuity Crime Prevetio/Safety for Everyoe uit of the Commuity Service Bureau aalyzed crime data from the eighborhood i Usig police reports a d crime maps, the departmet idetified the umber, types, a d locatio of apparet crimial activity. The statistics cofirmed the cocers residets expressed. A ri se i the umber of retal properties, a declie i housig coditios, ad poor screeig of teats added to the crime problem. A large group ofpeople icludig residets; the faith commuity; the po lice; city, couty, ad Federal agecies; oprofit orga izatios; ad a corporate foudatio worked together to develop a strategy to combat crime a d improve eighborhood coditios. ASSESSMENT: The umber of executed arcotics warr ats dropped from 108 i 1997 to 51 i 1998; vadalism icidets dropped from 366 i 1997 to 198 i 1998; ad burglary decreased from 240 i 1997 to 181 i SCANNING Mieapolis Hawthore eighborhood, a 77-square-block eighborhood i North Mieapo lis, is home to approximately 7,000 residets, oe-third of whom are youger tha 17. Juveile Probatio Office data idicate that the umber of juveiles o probatio i the Hawthore area is the highest i the city. I additio, sevety-five percet of the housig stock is retal, ad almost half of the residets receive some form of Heepi Couty Ecoomic Assista ce. I 1996, drug traffickig a d vadalism had bee problems for at least 5 years i the Hawthore eighborhood, ad there was o sig that the problems would ed soo. Past problem-solvig efforts had bee hitor-miss, ad there was little cooperatio or sese of commuity amog residets. Residets had o political clout with city or couty govermet a d showed little, if ay, commitmet to resolvig eighborhood problems. They also expressed feeligs of aba domet by city a d couty services, a d residets believed that city officials had 1 The Hawthore Huddle

2 made a coscious decisio to igore the crimial elemet plaguig their eighborhood. Drug Dealig ad Other Crime A major iterstate highway that flowed alog the easter edge of the eighborhood provided easy access to customers from the perimeters of Hawthore. Durig oe commuity meetig, two city officials observed mo re tha 40 cars ad a steady stream of pedestria traffic at a drug house over a 2-hour period. The eighborhood was plagued by a icreasig umber of aggravated assaults, ad radom gushots ad drive-by shootigs were commo. Civil Disorder The arcotics trade i the area spaweda variety of quality-of-life problems, suchas litter, poor housig, vadalism, loud all from carsad-ight parties, music blarig homes, ad uleashed dogs barkigloudly. Everywhere oe looked, streets, yards,ad sidewalks were strew with waste paper, broke glass, discarded plastic bags of clothes, ad miscellaeous pieces of furiture. The market value of houses fell,ad some homeowers could ot afford to leave: Their mortgage balaces werehigher tha the market value of their homes. A Neighborhood Busiess Associatio aalysis idicated that there was o ecoomic viability or corporate ivestmet i the Hawthore area. Residets cofirmed that crime a disorder were major problems i a 1996 survey of 150 Hawthore households coducted by the Mieapolis Neighborhood Revitali -zatio Program (NRP) a eighborhoodbased plaig ad implemetatio program that supports iitiatives to address housig, ecoomic developmet, crimead safety, ad other eighborhood-idetified cocers. NRP ad the po lice departmet also coducted focus groups to learabout residets cocer s. Accordig toresidets, the top cocers i the eighborhood were litter ad crime, icludig drugrelated crime, vehicle theft, vadalism, ad burglary. Police patrollig Hawthore were discouraged by the magitude of its socialdisorder. A overall sese of despair prevailedamog residets ad govermet agecy staff facig the area s problems. ANALYZING THE PROBLEM4 The Mieapolis Police Departmet (MPD) ad its Commuity Crime Prevetio/ Safety for Everyoe (CCP/SAFE) uit of the Commuity Service Bureau aalyzed crime data from the eighborhood i Usig police reports ad crime maps, the departmet idetified the umber, types, ad locatio of apparet crimial activity. The statistics cofirmed the cocers residets expressed i the NRP survey. Narcotics Traffickig MPD s aalysis of 911 calls ad citize complaits showed that most drug activity occurred durig the time that the departmet s Commuity Respose Team (CRT), which deals with low-level street arcotics, prostitutio, ad other livability issues, was ot preset i the eighborhood. CRT worked a fixed schedule, usually durig the work week. Most eighborhood drug dealers were aware of the schedule, ad their busiest day of the week was Suday. Most customers came from the immediate or earby eighborhoods. The eighborhood was divided ito four quadrats, ad arcotics warrats issued i 1996 were equally distributed amog the four. The cosequeces for drug traffickig were ot serious. A U.S. Attorey s Office study of 40 executed search warrats showed that of the 55 idividuals arrested ad charged with some level of feloy arcotic behavior, 22 had 5 or more previous arrests for a variety of offeses. Of these 22, 3 were juveiles; of the remaiig 19 idividuals, each had bee arrested 13 or more times. Excellece i Problem-Orieted Policig 2

3 Resources That Helped the Hawtho re Neighborhood Succeed Orgaizatios cotributig fudig ad/or staff time to this effort icluded: City of Mieapolis Housig Ispectios Mieapolis Lead Program Mieapolis Police Departmet Mieapolis Public Schools Solid Waste ad Recyclig Water Departmet Heepi Couty Childre ad Family Services Couty Attorey s Office Juveile Probatio Setece to Serve Traiig ad Employmet Services Welfare Fraud Federal Govermet Noprofit Agecies Accessibility Hawthore Area Commuity Coucil Legal Aid Loaves ad Fishes North Memo rial Hospital Churches Berea Baptist Church Faith Taberacle Church O-Fire Miistry St. Phillip s Catholic Church Zio Luthera Church Major Corporate Sposor I 1994, the Geeral Mills Foudatio grated $3 mil lio over 5 years for ew ad rehabilitated housig i the Hawthore eighborhood. I additio, the Foudatio gave $200,000 for block club iitiatives. Traiig I 1997, the etire Mieapolis Police Departmet received 8 hours of POP traiig, which was supported by a Federal grat. Also, all ew officers i the Mieapolis Police Departmet receive 8 hours of commuity-orieted policig traiig durig their academy experiece. To gai a appreciatio for the problems of urba youth, recruits work a full week (40 hours) i a ier-city youth orgaizatio through the Police-Commuity Traiig Partership program. Some of these idividuals had bee arrested betwee 38 ad 41 times, ad some of their violatios were for repeat arcotic feloies. Of this group, ot oe received active jail time. The oly risks for offeders were fiacial loss or the slight chace of crimial justice system respose. Poor Property Maagemet Accordig to city housig ispectios data, as drug activity icreased ad homeowers moved from the eighborhood, the umber of retal properties grew. Retal property owers became icreasigly part of the problem, allowig properties to declie while cotiuig to collect voucher-paid rets from Heepi Couty Ecoomic Assistace. Approximately 10 percet of homes had bee sold to eglectful ladlords, ad aother 30 percet were maaged by owers with little, if ay, experiece. May owers did ot scree te ats ad showed o iterest i improvig their maagemet skills. The Mieapolis Commuity Developmet Agecy refused to build ay ew housig or to reivest i e xistig housig stock because of the ogoig drug traffickig ad other problems. Lack of Coordiatio Amog Govermet Services The Heepi Couty Departmet of Childre ad Family Services coducted a aalysis of govermet agecy service delivery i the area ad foud that agecies had overlappig cliets ad that there was little coordiatio amog the agecies to address the families problems. It ofte was the case, for 3 The Hawthore Huddle

4 example, that a family actively ivolved i drug dealig was receivig couty ecoomic assistace, o juveile probatio, receivig housig ispectios complaits, ad uder supervisio from a couty Childre ad Family Services case worker. However, oe of these services were coordiated. RESPONSE To orgaize the commuity, the MPD s CCP/SAFE uit sposored a variety of eighborhood meetigs ad ecouraged residets to participate i block clubs. A crime prevetio specialist, Hillary Freema, a civilia member of the MPD, atteded these meetigs ad became actively ivolved i facilitatig commuicatio amog commuity orgaizatios ad assistig residets ad others i the eighborhood to solve Hawthore s problems. Freema traied block club members o how to use the ordiaces ad other tools available to the commuity for reducig crime. Residets used the block club meetigs to record problem addresses ad to idetify ext steps for actio by both residets ad police. Updates were provided at the ext block club meetig, allowig residets to see the fruits of their labor. Residets ad Commuity Leaders Orgaize As block clubs bega to form, residets icreasigly worked together to defie eighborhood problems ad to take owership for resolvig eighborhood issues. Residets became highly motivated to reclaim their eighborhood ad regai a sese of cotrol over their daily lives. They bega actively to observe ad record suspected crimial activity o their blocks ad to report their observatios to the MPD 4th precict CRT. Approximately 200 residets became actively ivolved i the 14 block clubs formed i the Hawthore eighborhood. The MPD s Freema met with leaders of faith orgaizatios to solicit their assistace i problem solvig. As a result, clergy from each of the eighborhood churches created a miisterial group that cotiues to meet mothly to address commo cocers ad to work with eighborhood residets. Commuity members also cotiue to meet mothly at 7:30 a.m. i what is called the Hawthore Huddle. The Geeral Mills Foudatio o rigially orgaized the meetigs i 1997 as a way to solicit feedback about projects it had fuded i the eighborhood. Over time, the meetigs expaded to address wide-ragig eighborhood cocers ad ow operate as a thik-tak o policy issues that affect livability i the eighborhood. Participats iclude block club leaders, members of the clergy, police a d other govermet staff, represetatives ofoprofit org aizatios, a d elected city a d couty pub lic officials. The Neighborhood Strategy The MPD worked with other govermet agecies ad the commuity to develop the followig strategy to reduce crime i the Hawthore eighborhood: Icrease eforcemet of existig laws, icludig the State uisace law, property li cese laws, a d weapos owership laws. Establish parterships amog commuity residets ad orgaizatios ad other city ad couty agecies. Establish a sese of commuity by adoptig shared commuity stadards ad by workig with corporate parters who could ifluece policymakig a d provide fudig ad voluteers for commuity iitiatives. The MPD s goal was to reduce the umber of crimial arcotic arrests executed at specific addresses, the umber of vadalism icidets, ad the umber of residetial burglaries. Excellece i Problem-Orieted Policig 4

5 Neighborhood residets ad the faith commuity developed stadards of coduct for the commuity. The Geeral Mill s Foudatio provided fudig for a commuity dier, at which block club members, faith commuity leaders, the MPD, ad other govermet agecies met to agree upo the stadards ad to commit resources i support of them. Govermet Agecy Coordiatio City ad couty agecies bega to commuicate with oe aother ad developed a more holistic approach to service delivery to the commuity. They formed the Project Empowermet Team, whose particip ats icluded city ad couty agecies, Mieapolis Legal Aid, the North Memorial Family Practice Cliic, the Traiig ad Employmet Assistace Program, ad other iterested commuity parters. The team s purpose was to address family issues from a early itervetio/prevetio perspective ad to match eedy families with appropri resources. -ate Strategy Implemetatio Icreased Efo rcemet. The police did the fo llowig to icrease eforcemet i the Hawthore eighborhood: Used the Computer-Optimized Deploymet Focus o Results, or CODEFOR, system to focus eforcemet efforts o problem locatios. Stregtheed eforcemet of the Coduct o Premise ordi ace, a city housig ispectio ordi ace that addresses uisace behavior such as loud music ad parties, arcotics a d weapos possessio, ad prostitutio o retal property. Ecouraged stroger eforcemet of the State Nuisace Law, which is eforced by the Couty Attorey s office civil divisio ad addresses such uisace behavior as arcotics ad weapos possessio ad prostitutio i or o homeower-occupied property, busiesses, shelters, ad bars. Aggressive eforcemet of the State Nuisace Law ad Coduct o Premise ordiace bega Jauary 1, As a result, eforcemet actio was take agaist 17 properties that had accouted for 875 police calls-for-service withi 1 year. Govermet Agecy Coordiatio. The Project Empowermet Team offered commuity resources to 55 families demostratig problem behaviors. Of those 55 families, oly 5 were uwillig to use the resources. Residet Iitiatives. I respose to residets commuity stadards for the eighborhood, Mieapolis Solid Waste ad Recyclig issued 300 dirty collectio tags. The departmet placed dirty collectio poit tags at properties where residets did ot place their garbage i proper cotaiers ad allowed it to scatter aroud the yard. This eforcemet had two direct results: First, commitmet to eforce the commuity stadards was demostrated, ad secod, a clea eighborhood did help to deter crime. To provide youg people with positive activities i their commuity ad to steer them away from vadalism, residets ad area churches created the Clea ad Gree Program, a atilitter project that offered youth a stiped for their work o Saturday morigs to clea up their eighborhood. The commuity also established a Safe House where childre could be ivolved i positive, supervised activities ad receive assistace with school work. Support for these iitiatives also came from NRP, Geeral Mills, grats to block clubs, ad churches. Retal Property Improvemet Iitiative. Through NRP fudig, retal property owers received retal property maagemet traiig ad fuds to icrease ad improve their security iitiatives. NRP set 5 The Hawthore Huddle

6 aside $20,000, which was matched by the retal property owers, to ista ll feces, locks, ad lightig. ASSESSMENT The results of efforts to improve the Hawthore eighborhood were measured through the MPD s crime statistics, a secod NRP survey, ad focus groups coducted with block clubs ad other stakeholders. The MPD evaluated crime statistics weekly, ad twice a year, the MDP ad NRP requested feedback from residets. The reductio of crime i Hawthore has bee sigificat: Narcotics violatio warr ats declied 50 percet, from 108 i 1997 to 51 i Vadalism icidets showed a similar reductio: from 366 i 1997 to 198 i Home burglaries decreased from 240 i 1997 to 181 i Home burglaries declied primarily because of educatio: Block club members were taught how to reduce burglaries by icreasig the security of their homes ad by reducig the opportuity for becomig a victim of crime. Also, as eighbors got to kow oe a other, they became a extra pair of eyes, watchig oe aother s houses. NRP coducted a survey of residets attedig block club meetigs i late 1998, ad respodets idicated that they felt safer i their commuity ad that crime was decreasig. Commuity feedback sessios showed that the goals of reducig crime ad social disorder ad orgaizig the commuity had bee successfully accomplished. FOR MORE INFORMATION For more iformatio about the Hawthore Huddle, cotact the Mieapolis Police, Dowtow Commad, 29 S. 5th Street, Mieapolis, MN 55402; phoe: ; fax: Iitial idicators for 1999 show a decreasig tred i arcotics arrests, vadalism, ad burglary of dwelligs. Excellece i Problem-Orieted Policig 6