MARCH 2010 City of Richmond Police Department Community Newsletter Sector 212 Special points of interest: Current Crime Trends Crime Prevention / Safety Tips Do You Reside in Sector 212? Request of Citizens Inside this issue: Crime Trends 1 Community Involvement Sector 212 Neighborhoods Significant Officer Arrests Drug Arrests in Your Neighborhood 2 3 4 4 Top 5 Most Wanted 5 In the Month of March, the crime fighting strategies we put in place together with the support of our community heroes, Sector 212 is able to boast about a 55% decrease in violent crimes!! When Individual Robberies began to increase, a 2-person bicycle team was implemented to combat the areas where these violent crimes were occurring. These areas were identified as the Southwood Apartment Complex as well as the Broad Rock Boulevard corridor. Both of the bicycle officers are Spanish speaking officers who created the name for their new Violent Crimes Plummet Down! Property Crime is on the Rise! unit. They are called the IMPACT team which stands for Initiating More Police Action thru Community Trust. They aggressively combat crime in the target areas while simultaneously building trust and community partnership with the Latino Population. The decrease in violent crime for the Month of March is also due to the patrol officers keen knowledge of the offenders within the community and their dedication to create innovative ideas in crime fighting. As the temperatures began to rise, the officers realized that the offenders were outside as well as the victims. Therefore, the officers would be out as well, to deter any opportunities for the criminals to take advantage of people enjoying the warm weather. As a result, the officers are now on walking assignments during each shift. Citizens will be glad to know that officers will be out walking in assigned neighborhoods during every working shift; day, evening and midnight shifts. While we have achieved great success in lowering violent crime, we need your help to stop the increase of property crimes. Unfortunately, during the Month of March Sector 212 experienced an increase of 21% in property crimes. The most notable rise in property crimes is seen in Theft from Motor Vehicles. During the Month of March Sector 212 residents reported 19 incidents of Thefts from Motor Vehicles. The majority of Thefts from Motor Vehicles were reported in the Southwood and McGuire Manor Neighborhoods. Although an arrest has been made of an individual believed to have committed an overwhelming majority of these thefts (See Significant Officer Arrests), simple preventative measures could have deterred many of these thefts.
Prevention of Property Crimes, cont d Prevent Thefts from Motor Vehicles: Always Lock Doors and Roll Up Windows Do Not Leave Any Items in Plain View; Especially GPSs, IPODs, Laptops, Cell Phones & Money. Place all valuable items in the trunk of vehicle before you reach your destination. Park in well lighted areas Another significant increase in property crimes has been noted in Residential Burglaries. For the Month of March citizens reported 15 Residential Burglaries. An analysis of the residential burglaries indicated that the offenders are breaking into homes during the daytime hours while the residents are away, possibly at work. Although most of the residential burglaries committed in March are spread throughout the sector, there is a small cluster that is occurring in the Worthington and Swanson neighborhoods. The offenders committing the residential burglaries are believed to be juveniles. Therefore, it is imperative for the community to call the police if they see a juvenile wondering around the neighborhood during school hours when school is in session. It is our commitment to not only ensure that all youths are in school obtaining an education but also not given the opportunity to possibly commit offenses within the community. To Stop Residential Burglaries and Thefts from Buildings: Officer Involvement in Your Community Always secure your home when you go out even for a minute. Secure sliding glass doors with bars and locks. Make sure all windows have locks and use them. Trim any bushes or trees that hide doors and windows. Most importantly, if you see any suspicious persons or activity in your neighborhood, call 911 immediately. During the Month of March, Lt. Angela Greene and Sector 212 Officers attended 11 Community Meetings. Mounted Unit in Southwood - 5 Police Horses along with their police partners patrolled the Southwood Apartment Complex Truancy Sweeps conducted weekly to decrease property crimes and keep juveniles in schools. Officers Walking neighborhoods during all working shifts. Page 2
Sector 212 Neighborhoods Midlothian Woodhaven Southwood McGuire Manor Hickory Hill Worthington Warwick Swanson South Garden Broad Rock Sports Park British Camp Farms Brookbury Pocoshock Piney Knolls Cottrell Farms Elkhardt Brookhaven Farms Fawnbrook Belmont Woods
Noteworthy Officer Arrests IMPACT team Officers Ardila Alejandro, Lindsey Wallace and CAPS Officer Mark Wiggins conducted a knock and talk at a home in the 1800B of Clearfield Street as a result of a citizen s complaint of possible drug activity occurring in the home. The Officers were able to obtain a Search Warrant and arrest two individuals both on Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance; Misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; (3) Misdemeanors for dogs in the home without licenses or Rabies vaccinations; as well as Violations for Accumulation of Refuse in the yard and Dwelling Structure. This in depth investigation led to two offenders being taken to jail and removed from the community. While on routine patrol in the areas experiencing a rise in property crimes, Officer Shawn Turkalj stopped a suspicious female on McKay Avenue fitting the description of the theft from motor vehicle suspect, Sharita Frazier. When Officer Turkalj stopped the individual she lied about her identity. Upon further investigation of the individual, witnesses emerged and identified the objects Ms. Frazier had in her possession as personal items taken from their vehicles in the area. As a direct result of Officer Turkalj s keen investigative skills he was able to arrest Ms. Frazier on 2 Felony Charges as well as 5 Misdemeanor Charges. When a commercial business was broken into on Broad Rock Boulevard and the suspect caught on tape, Detective Gregory Russell, Sgt. Erlan Marshall, Officer Mark Levy and Jorge Thondique reviewed the videotape and were able to immediately identify the offender as a person they arrested less then 2 months earlier breaking into another commercial business on Broad Rock Boulevard. The offender, Mr. Evan Cartwright, who was currently out on supervised probation from the first commercial burglary was immediately picked up and placed back in jail for his continued criminal deviance. The officers are commended for knowing the offenders in their community and quickly removing Mr. Cartwright from the area. Drug Arrests in Your Neighborhood 6400 Hull St Wendell Britt 5700 Heywood Rd. Juvenile (17 yoa) Possession of Marijuana 18.2-250.1 600 Woodhaven Dr Ronnie Cutler Possession of Marijuana 18.2-250.1 Deckion Callis 4300 Clarkson Rd Manuf., Sale, Poss. of Marijuana 18.2-248 Poss. Of Drug Paraphernalia 54.1-3466 1800 Clearfield St. Alfred Darlington & Philip Logan Poss. Of Drug Paraphernalia 54.1-3466 5000 Snead Rd. DaQuan Wilkins Page 4
City of Richmond Police Department Lieutenant Angela M. Greene OIC Sector 212 2nd Precinct 177 E. Belt Boulevard Richmond, VA 23224 Phone: 646-8143 Fax: 646-8199 We re on the Web RichmondGov.Com Sector 212 Community Newsletter TOP 5 MOST WANTED IN SECTOR 212 Terry Fife Keith Evans Marcus Reed Melvin Haskins Champayne Miller