Mecklenburg County Property Tax Revaluation Meeting Set for Jan. 10

Mecklenburg County plans to roll out new property valuations that will see changes in property taxes paid by the county's 280,000 property owners.

According to the Charlotte Observer, one of the areas where property appreciated in value far more than the county average since 2003 is Mountain Isalnd Lake.

There is a meeting set for Jan. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Cornelius Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Ave., for District 1 residents to get information on how much their taxes might be going up.

Charlotte Observer: Homicide Cluster Northwest of Uptown

While Charlotte and the nation continued to report falling violent crime in 2010, a pocket of older neighborhoods northwest of uptown had an unsettling spike in killings.

Nearly a third of the 59 homicides in Charlotte-Mecklenburg last year happened in a cluster of poor and working-class neighborhoods that are battling drug traffic, gun violence and gangs.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/01/03/1949622/many-10-slayings-were-in-one-area.html#ixzz19ytUqsou

There is also a map showing locations and details of these crimes.

Charlotte Murder Total Drops to 21-Year Low

The Charlotte Observer reports that the 56 murders in the city during 2009 was a 21-year low. It's hard to celebrate an average of a killing a week, but here is the story: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/408/story/1157130.html

You can also check out the interactive map of the crimes.

Charlotte Observer: Neighborhood high-tech watch

Neighborhood high-tech watch
Hyde Park residents debate using cameras to catch burglars.
By Christopher D. Kirkpatrick
ckirkpatrick@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Monday, Nov. 03, 2008

Lewis Smith, a video surveillance technician, installs a camera for a resident of Hyde Park Estates. The neighborhood is looking at options for fighting property crime, including installing cameras. PHOTOS BY DAVID T. FOSTER III – dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com

Residents have a lot of crime-fighting tools but sometimes don't employ them until after a crime occurs, experts say. Here are some things you can do to help keep your community safe.

Residents

Install pick-resistant door locks.

Plant painful holly and rose bushes beneath first-floor windows.

Get a dog or put a big dog bowl on the front porch.

Lock windows.

Install an alarm system, motion-sensor lights, and automatic timers for indoor lights.

Stop mail and newspapers when out of town.

Watch for strangers and unfamiliar vehicles.

Report anything suspicious to police.

Watch out for neighbors' homes and ask them to do the same for you.

Subscribe to CMPD's crime e-mail alerts. Go to www.cmpd.org and click on the “notify me” tab.

Track crime through an interactive map at www.cmpd.org; click on “crime mapping” tab.

Neighborhoods

Form a neighborhood association.

Form a neighborhood watch program. Contact coordinator at hkimbell1@cmpd.org.

Improve neighborhood lighting.

Install security cameras.

Set up an e-mail network to spread information.

Hire a private service for crime alerts via phone and e-mail. Go to www.callingpost.com.

After several break-ins near his home, Fred Glenn installed a high-tech security camera to watch his front yard.

Now his Hyde Park Estates neighborhood is considering a network of cameras to record and track visitors, and to capture their car license plates.

Cameras seem a bit radical for some residents, but the neighborhood's dilemma is universal: How far must a community go to protect itself – and what can it expect from police?

“No neighborhood in Charlotte is exempt anymore,” said Vic Wilson, president of the Hyde Park homeowners' association.

Home break-ins jumped 10 percent in Charlotte through September, compared to the same period last year. And only violent crime can make people feel more vulnerable than intrusions into their homes, say police and criminologists.

Hyde Park doesn't experience a lot of crime, but the suburban north Charlotte community off Beatties Ford Road has grown fearful this fall after a rash of car break-ins and several burglaries by thieves who kicked front doors open.


Some residents have already installed security cameras at their homes, and now the neighborhood association is debating whether to broaden the surveillance or add other security measures.


Hyde Park has only two street entrances – perfectly suited for video recording, says Glenn, chairman of the neighborhood's security committee. If approved, cameras would go up at the entrances and later expand to other prime spots in the established, 105-home community.


The security committee voted to research installing up to 16 cameras. A digital video recorder would keep records, and signs would let potential criminals know they're being watched. Several video security companies, whose industry is booming, were slated to give presentations to the community this month.


Some Hyde Park residents, including Glenn, say surveillance could help prevent crime and identify criminals. Others see it as a drastic reaction that raises worries about cost and personal privacy.


Wilson, the 72-year-old Hyde Park president, said he carries a gun, as he has for years. He's never had to fire it, though.


“I'm not going to be abused or have my family abused after working so hard to acquire what little stuff I have,” said Wilson, who's helping his neighborhood search for answers.


“We have to do something before someone gets hurt.”


Few arrests for break-ins


While Charlotte's violent crime rate has declined over the past decade, the rate of property crime has ticked up four of the past five years.


Police generally clear fewer than one in 10 home break-ins with an arrest or other reason for closing the case.


Neighborhoods are fighting back with a variety of measures – with some hiring security companies, forming citizen patrols and installing cameras.


Residents know they're the linchpin to keeping their neighborhoods safe, but some want police to increase patrols and work harder to solve burglaries and other property crime.


Even Charlotte-Mecklenburg's new police chief, Rodney Monroe, says property crimes should become a higher priority. One of his first moves was to put more officers on the street to pay closer attention to various neighborhoods' biggest headaches – usually related to property crime.


Charlotte's North Division, home to Hyde Park, has seen some progress: Police named burglaries that division's top priority. The number of break-ins dropped about 2 percent this year.


Police couldn't immediately provide crime statistics for Hyde Park, but Capt. Andy Leonard estimates the upper- to middle-income neighborhood has reported roughly 10 property crimes this year.


“The randomness of it does greatly impact a neighborhood's perception of safety,” said Deputy Chief Kerr Putney, after releasing Charlotte's latest crime statistics at a news conference last week.


Chief Monroe is also pressing District Attorney Peter Gilchrist to be tougher on criminals who commit property crime. Prosecutors counter that their top priority is locking up violent offenders.


The best defense, police say, is for residents to look out for one another. Neighborhood watch programs – with consistent meetings attended by police, residents and business owners – are crucial. CMPD offers e-mail alerts for neighborhoods and posts crime statistics – and mapping of crimes – online.


“The police are telling us we just need to watch out for each other, but that still didn't keep folks from kicking in front doors,” said Wilson.


Neighborhoods can also hire private security guards and, in locations like Hyde Park, build a guard shack where visitors must sign in. Better lighting and home burglar alarms are also effective.


As for cameras, they can help provide clues about suspects and crimes.


A decade ago, Charles Jones and his neighbors began installing cameras to help combat crime in their more-urban neighborhood, just west of uptown.


Jones, president of the Biddleville/Smallwood community, can see video feeds from his neighbors' cameras, which now cover most of their streets.


Police don't recall if the cameras have provided hard evidence to solve crimes, but they've allowed residents to call in crime tips and give descriptions of suspects. And neighbors say the cameras simply make them feel safer.


But some Hyde Park residents aren't sure if installing cameras is the best approach.


Burglars kicked down Joel and Karin Dancy's front door last month at about noon. No one was home, and the alarm system blared, scaring away the intruders. One grabbed a jewelry box from a front bedroom but spilled cuff links and other men's jewelry across the front lawn as he ran.


Karin Dancy said cameras might have been useful in identifying the burglars, but she also wants balance between security and personal privacy, she said. The tight-knit community of families and retirees has nothing to hide from one another, she said. But she worries that visitors might recoil at the thought of their comings and goings being videotaped.


Installing outdoor security cameras is also a complex and expensive process, said Randy Kossler, general manager of Priority One Security in Charlotte. The equipment for a 16-camera system with a DVR could run more than $40,000, not including installation, he said.


The cameras need to be climate-controlled and installed in weather-resistant boxes, and the recorder has to reside somewhere safe, he said. Outside wiring needed for the system can be a problem and an extra expense: “Is someone going to want their front lawn trenched up?”


Police say cameras might help, if neighborhoods are willing to shoulder the expense.


“Any time a community wants to take ownership of their own safety, that's good,” Putney said. “But they may want to think it through.”


Private guards expensive


Living around the corner from the Dancys, resident Charles Brandon said he expects Hyde Park's crime to get worse because of nearby Northlake Mall, which opened three years ago and has drawn greater car and foot traffic to the once-rural area.


But the 65-year-old retiree said installing cameras would be an overreaction. He'd rather see a security guard patrolling, as in some other neighborhoods. But that can be expensive, too.


Staff for Merchants Patrol say demand for private security is up and that the Charlotte company is booked through January.


Companies are coy about revealing price lists because of competition, but one industry representative said costs range from $12.50 to $50 an hour per guard. Neighborhoods and other clients can also pay monthly rates.


Some Charlotte-area residents want to patrol their streets. It's free, except for your time.


In Windsor Park, volunteers regularly ride around 26 miles of streets and report findings to police. Barclay Downs residents near SouthPark have established block captains for reporting problems.


In Plaza Midwood, a violent crime victim who was shot recently organized a citizen's patrol that is considering carrying guns – drawing criticism from some neighborhood activists and praise from others.


Best plan: Nosy neighbors


Despite some residents' desire to fight crime in novel ways, Charlotte police advise traditional watch programs with residents keeping a sharp eye out for suspicious characters.


But Charlotte officer Craig Allen, in charge of neighborhood crime prevention programs, said that residents have become more isolated and sometimes don't know their neighbors, making it harder to spot strangers.


“Back in the 1950s and 1960s, you at least knew your neighbors,” Allen said.


“Nosy neighbors are the best,” he said. “It's not going to completely cut out crime. But if people are watching out and they see suspicious activity and call 911, then we can get a car out there.”

WBTV: L.A. Gang Invasion

SPECIAL REPORT: L.A. Gang Invasion

Posted: Oct 29, 2008 07:12 PM EDT

Updated: Nov 1, 2008 02:28 AM EDT L.A. Gang Invasion

You can also find links to the video at: http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9262275

Written by Molly Grantham

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - For two years we've reported what police and FBI agents adamantly say: Hispanic gangs are moving from California to Charlotte. This fact is highlighted in the 2008 "Attorney General's Report to Congress on the Growth of Violent Street Gangs in Suburban Areas." We obtained a copy of the 41-page report. It specifically lists Charlotte-Mecklenburg as a place where Hispanic gangs are heading in increasing numbers.

The Attorney General writes, "Gangs in the Charlotte-area have become more criminally active and have expanded their connections with other organized crime entities, including major drug trafficking organizations."

We sent Anchor Molly Grantham to Los Angeles to investigate why they're moving here, and what proactive moves Charlotte can make to deal with the gangs, crime and drugs heading our way.

------

You'd consider it a perfect Carolina blue sky over our heads, but surrounding palm trees give away the fact we're no longer in the Carolinas. Retired L.A. County Sergeant Richard Valdemar is sitting in front of me. We're at a cement picnic table in MacArthur Park, a place near downtown Los Angeles known for MS-13.

"When I say ‘Charlotte, North Carolina'," I ask him, "What do you think?"

Valdemar worked with L.A. County Sheriff's Department for 30-plus years. He helped set up its Gang Intelligence Unit. He now goes around the country speaking about gangs, testifies at gang trials and considers himself a gang consultant. He responds quickly.

"They're one of the cities being invaded by the Sureno Army."

"Surenos" - (which means "south" or "southsiders") - are Hispanic gang members who align themselves with southern California's Mexican Mafia. MS-13 is one of the largest Sureno gangs.

According to Valdemar, MS-13 started in Los Angeles and then moved to Central America, not the other way around. He says immigrants came into southern California and got infected with the "gang cancer". When they'd go back to El Salvador, they'd carry that "cancer" with them.

"But it started here," he says. "This is the birthplace of MS-13. Right here. It's not of the El Salvadorian culture. It is of the American culture."

Valdemar lists five main reasons as to why MS-13 is moving to Charlotte. One is turf. California is so over-run with gangs, real estate is hard to come by.

"Sometimes one corner can be in dispute with five or six different groups," he says. "It's easier to move eastward and set up shop in a less-intensive gang area."

"One street corner is shared by multiple gangs?" I ask. "That's hard to believe."

"Yes," he nods. "And it eventually becomes hard to balance. Let's say a particular street corner where drugs are sold is occupied by one gang in the morning, another in the late afternoon and another in the late evening. So you have shifts operating on the same street corner selling drugs. Yet, they're from different gangs. Eventually that will run into conflict because of a struggle over power and money and turf, so they would rather move to an area that is not such in high density of gang activity."

Valdemar says the second reason they're moving here is that we'll pay more for drugs.

"The drug trade is a financially a good move," says Valdemar. "The drugs can be purchased cheaply on the west coast, and then marked up as they move further east. They're tripling and even quadrupling their profit."

"So you can sell crack for more in Charlotte then you can in Los Angeles?"

"Yes," says Valdemar.

"And that's why they're moving?"

"It's one of the reasons," he answers.

A third reason he says is illegal immigration, and the availability of labor-intensive jobs for migrant workers.

"MS-13 will follow the Hispanic community wherever it goes," he says. "The person you hire that's illegal doesn't look like a gang member to you. So you hire him. But then he brings along his cousin, his in-laws and then his children. And those people may have gang backgrounds. Plus, Charlotte is very unusual right now because you guys are growing. If there's construction in Charlotte, that's where they're going."

This is where he pauses, as if he's a bit unsure whether to go out on the next limb. "The other place they're going is where Hurricane Katrina hit. Because there is construction going on there, these people can find jobs there. So you're going to find... I predict... I predict you're going to find... an influx of active MS-13 in Katrina-hit areas."

Valdemar says the fourth reason they're moving to Charlotte is basic geography. After southern California gang members are deported back to El Salvador, they are closer to the east coast. It's easier to sneak back into America and come to our area, he says, then travel the whole way back out west.

"Washington D.C. is the first place we saw them re-establish after leaving El Salvador," he says. "D.C. and the Virginia-area. Then they eventually spread to Atlanta and Charlotte and other communities on the east coast. Now they're even moving to the central part of the United States."

The fifth reason Valdemar says gangs settle in cities has to do with the police department.

This is where he turns the tables and starts questioning me. "Are your police prepared to figure out who and where the gangs are?"

"We've got a gang intelligence unit with a solid Gangnet database," I say.

"But are they active?" he asks. "Your police have to be active in fighting gangs. Gangs will see how educated the gang unit is in law enforcement. If they're not properly educated, gang members will be more likely to settle."

"Charlotte-Mecklenburg's gang unit seems active," I reply, "but it's small. We have a new police chief who just doubled it, but up until two months ago, it only had nine officers. Nine officers out of about 1600 in the department."

"If you have a small gang unit," says Valdemar, "you're trying to address the issue, but you're running from fire to fire. That's not an efficient way to put out this problem."

"Problem" is a massively understated way to describe gangs in Los Angeles. Valdemar says they get between 550 and 600 gang murders every year. He says Hispanic gangs do the greatest proportion of those murders. Not Crips. Not Bloods. Hispanic gang members. It has been that way as long as he can remember.

"Most of the attention in Los Angeles is paid to the Crips and the Bloods," he says. "The real problem has been and seems to always be, the Hispanic gang members. But it's just like the immigration problem. It's one of those things politicians are loathe to talk about. And the community seems to protect these very gang members which victimize them."

That word - "victimize" - is one I hear often when talking with law enforcement in Los Angeles. Especially the next night.

Producer/Photographer Jeff Keene and I meet up early with L.A. County Gang Detectives Adan Torres and Gus Carrillo. We're riding along with them as they patrol Florence and Holmes Avenues in the south central part of the city. I ask how they think gang members "victimize" the people who live in the 3.6 square miles they enforce.

"How do they victimize?" asks Torres. "There are no rules. There are no boundaries. There is no respect. Gang members don't respect their parents, how are they going to respect me? How are they going to respect their neighbors? They just want to victimize those around them."

"In fact," adds Carrillo, "that's what motivates me. 99-percent of the people who live in this community are hard-working people who want to be left alone, but they're victimized by that small percentage of gang members who prey on them."

"Almost 99-percent," corrects Torres. "Latest numbers actually show seven percent of the population is committing ninety percent of the crime."

These guys are partners. Half the week they work the Florencia-13 gang. Two other gang detectives are assigned when they're not on. Torres and Carrillo say they know their beat. They know exactly who should - and shouldn't - be in their neighborhood.

"When a case comes across our desk sometimes, we can pretty much tell or figure out who's involved because we've spent five hours or six hours out in the field with them," says Carrillo.

It is now time for us to go out in the field. This means putting on a flak jacket and getting in an unmarked car.

What we see driving around with these two veterans, is what Charlotte doesn't want to become. We don't want to be a city where gang detectives frisk random gang members they see walking down the street.

It happens so fast.

We're in the car talking, in mid-sentence, when Carrillo suddenly pulls over to the side. Torres is somehow already out on the street, getting some guy to put his hands up. The guy has a "God bless the dead" tattoo on his arm. He tells Torres his name is "Martinez".

"But you go by Slim, right?" asks Carrillo, who is by now beside them.

"Yeah," he answers.

"Slim", it turns out, is a 29-year-old Florencia-13 member who just got out of jail in May. The detectives quiz him, search him (when his shirt is lifted you see his chest covered in "F-13" tattoos) and fill out an identification card which will later be filed into a computer system. "Slim" declines an interview - "No ma'am," he tells me - and walks away.

"We recognized him as one of the local gang members," Carrillo says as we watch him walk. "This was good because we just made sure he's up on all his current parole violations. We knew one of his conditions was he could be stopped and talked with by police at anytime."

As we get back in the car Carrillo lets me know that even though the street seems relatively empty, lots of eyes are watching.

"Right now we're being looked at," he says. "Probably two or three gang members looking at us at all times. They're constantly looking because they're worried. They're just always watching each other. They'll stop ‘Slim' in a few minutes... they'll call and ask him, ‘Why did they stop you? What did they say? Why is that.. why is that white chick with them? What is she saying? Why is that camera guy filming you?' They're constantly being asked."

It is not a comfortable feeling to hear we're surrounded, and outnumbered.

"He was actually polite," I say.

"Oh yeah," he says. "They know we're the gang unit so they treat us a little different."

As we drive I can't help but notice these gang-run homes don't look so bad. Torres tells me this used to be a nice, middle-class area that is now scarred by the graffiti of violence.

Then, just like last time, we're driving along smoothly when Carrillo rips the car to the side. Torres is out before it's in park. Two kids had just ridden by us on one bike - Torres now has one of the guys at the back of the car with his hands behind his head. By the time we're out, the other guy is in the same position on the front of the car.

"Calm down," Carrillo is telling the older kid up front. "Calm down."

They're brothers. Carrillo and Torres pull them because they are violating a bike-riding law; one guy on the handlebars. This gives the detectives cause to search.

Carrillo pulls an almost-gone joint behind the ear of the boy up front. He also finds a fake one hundred dollar bill in his wallet. Carrillo recognizes him. Says he goes by the name "Blackie".

"Is this real?" Carrillo asks, taking the hundred out.

"Huh?" Blackie looks him in the eye.

"Is this real?" Carrillo asks a little louder.

"Nah, I took it from work." Blackie mumbles.

"Counterfeit. A counterfeit one hundred dollar bill?..."

The boy laughs.

"...Yeah, laugh all you want," Carrillo says. "That's a serious offense. You know what that is, right? That's a federal offense."

Blackie suddenly gets silent. "Yes sir," he says. "I know."

The quiet change is amazing. I realize there is some level of law gang members fear.

Blackie says he'll answer my questions. I first ask about his one visible tattoo. He says it's in honor of his older brother who was shot and killed in 2003.

"He was shot in an alley," he says. "He died with one shot."

He admits to being a part of F-13, but says his younger brother - the one standing at the back of the car with Torres - is not a member. I ask Blackie why he joined.

"People make mistakes, and you know I chose the wrong path, but I take care of my business, you know." He looks me in the eye. He sounds incredibly cocky. "I take care of my family and that's what matters."

"Are you making money being in the gang?" I ask.

"No."

"Then how is it helping you take care of your business and family?"

"Well, I mean, like, I said..." he stumbles for words. "...Like I said, when I was young, you know, I made mistakes, but, but I got to work the jig, you know."

"Got a real job?"

"Yes ma'm."

"What do you do?"

"Construction."

"How old are you?"

"23."

Wow, I think. He's not really a kid. "When did you get in?"

"When I was, like, 12."

"How did you get in?"

He pauses and looks away. "I'm cool already, man." He won't answer.

"Answer this then for me," I say. "You ever commit a crime?"

"Yeah," he says. He's eye-to-eye again. "I committed a couple minor crimes, you know. Riding a bike with no helmet. That's about it."

"The only crime you've ever committed is riding a bike with no helmet?" He knows I don't believe him. He could care less.

"Yeah," he says, "You know. Like little tickets. Fix-up tickets. That's about it."

Only, that's not about it. When we ask when he was last arrested, he says in 2004 on a domestic violence charge. When we ask where he got the scar on his head, he says from being shot in a drive-by over the summer. He says he spent two weeks in the hospital, part of it in a coma.

That's when Torres cuts him off. "You guys know who did it? Who shot you?"

"Nah." The 23-year old's head is back down. He clearly knows and is even more clearly not going to say.

Before we leave, I ask Blackie if he would get out of F-13 if he could.

"I don't regret what I did." He back to looking straight on. "I said, you know, it's like, it's just my path."

"So you're proud of it?"

"Right." He pauses.

"Do you want your younger brother to be in a gang?"

"No." He sounds semi-convincing. "He's going to school and everything and getting good grades. But sometimes he gets a little bored when we be out here, so that's when I got to snatch him up."

With that, Torres and Carrillo give these brothers a pass on the bike violation, the weed and the counterfeit bill. They tell them to stay out of trouble. The younger brother actually waves as they ride off. Two weeks later Carrillo sends me an email: Blackie was picked up with a loaded gun. No break on this one. He'll be in jail, Carrillo writes, "for a very long time."

This is where you stop and scratch your head.

This is where it hits you: you could ride-along with Carrillo and Torres for any five hour section on any random weeknight, and it'd all be the same. This is where you figure out it doesn't matter that an hour later, they find a 15-year-old gangbanger with a loaded gun standing with 5-and-6-year-olds at an ice-cream truck. This is the point you start to feel numb, truly numb, when you hear the mother of that gun-toting teen say, "Arrest him. Take him. I don't want him. I can't control him. I don't want him."

This is where you realize L.A.'s unstoppable gangs can be Charlotte's big lesson.

"Get ahead of the curve," Valdemar says to me as we walk through MacArthur Park, looking at elaborate graffiti. "People always talk about being proactive, but I don't usually see the budget or manpower or attention given to being proactive. That only comes after some poor six-year-old kid gets shot. Then we see activity. But get out there with a gang unit now. Find out what you already have."

"They're trying to document it," I tell him for a second time. "A new police Chief is putting officers towards it. But that's just one thing. What do you think really needs to happen?"

"The community has to get behind it," he says quickly. "The police can't do anything unless the community is supporting them. It's the community who calls up and says, ‘So-and-so is hanging around this park' and ‘These gang members accosted me while I was shopping'. If the people who live in Charlotte deny this problem, there's no way to work against it."

"What are the first visible signs we'll see in Charlotte?"

"Graffiti."

"We already have that," I say. "Nothing like this..." I refer to an entire tunnel we just crossed through covered with spray paint of MS-13 and Wanderers-13. "It's not this bad, but we definitely have it."

"People will get killed over crossing out this kind of stuff," Valdemar says, studying one area with words crossed out, re-sprayed then crossed out again. He looks back at me. "But after graffiti, you get the takeover of local parks. Then malls, or hangout spots. And schools. Yes, yes, yes..." he shakes his head. "...schools. Schools are one of the first places they'll be felt."

"So we would need to have the school system definitely on board with police in acknowledging a problem?"

"Yes."

"No doubt?"

"No doubt about it," he says. "One of the first things we did when we had our gang unit in L.A., is at 3:00 o'clock, we stopped all activity. Didn't matter what we were doing. We stopped and frequented and patrolled around the schools."

At the end of our interview I thank Valdemar for his time, and ask one final question. Almost as an afterthought.

"If you had to put everything we talked about today in one main message, what would you say?"

Little did I know how powerful his final words would be.

"Charlotte, you need to wake up. If your kids are really important to you, if the lives of your young people mean something to you, you don't wait until they're dead. Get involved now. As a parent, as a boy scout, coach or through your church. You all need to get involved right now before you have the problem L.A. turned into."

Charlotte Observer Reports on Neighborhood Efforts to Reduce Crime

Policing outside the box
Communities do their part to keep crime down, sending messages, hiring off-duty officers and posting photos of convicted criminals.
By Dan Tierney
dtierney@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Sunday, Sep. 07, 2008

When Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police began pursuing a suspect in a vehicle through Plaza Midwood in the early afternoon of Aug. 22, the calls and e-mails quickly circulated.

“Police are chasing a new white truck thru (sic) the neighborhood, per neighbor reports,” Rob Willis wrote in an e-mail to several residents and posted to the Plaza Midwood neighborhood watch message board. “Please be careful!”

With crime statistics up this year – property crime is up 3.8 percent from this time last year and violent crime is up 2.3 percent – many neighborhoods have started taking a proactive approach to helping slow crime. And it's not just the basic, long-standing neighborhood watch programs.

A few in recent years have started message boards, where residents inform each other of crimes or odd happenings around their home. Many have started phone or text-message trees. Others have hired off-duty police, and at least one neighborhood has posted photos of convicted criminals around the streets.

Police recommend almost any method that increases communication.

CMPD Sgt. Rich Stahnke said e-mail chains have grown increasingly effective, with many people accessing e-mail consistently during weekdays. Message boards, which police often peruse and post messages to, have replaced the “backyard fence gossip lines” of the past in helping police learn about what's occurring in a neighborhood, Stahnke said.

“It increases the flow of information both ways,” he said. “We can't police in a vacuum. We have to have that input from citizens.”

Many area neighborhoods use a message board on their Web sites, but Dilworth and Plaza Midwood might represent the most popular. Residents of the two neighborhoods often post reports of break-ins, stolen items and unfamiliar people seen in their areas.

Residents of Olmsted Park took it a step further a few weeks ago by posting laminated posters with the mug shots of two convicted criminals, who allegedly committed crimes in the area.

“It's a good deterrent,” said Olmsted Park Neighborhood Association president Phil Reitano, “because then criminals are going to know that people are looking at their faces.”

Scott Yamanashi, a part-time bouncer, raised controversy when he and others in June started an armed patrol in Plaza Midwood after a shooting at the Snug Harbor bar.

“Everyone (with a gun permit) has got the right to go around armed in the neighborhood,” Stahnke said. “I would just rather see trained professionals be present, rather than someone wandering around with a gun.”

One strategy – the hiring of off-duty police – has worked for Dilworth in recent months. After a string of high-profile robberies and assaults, Dilworth raised more than $50,000 for extra neighborhood patrols. Since off-duty patrols began in April, the number of crimes has dropped from 144 that month to 97 in July. Myers Park residents have also reported success with off-duty patrols.

Willis, the moderator of Plaza Midwood's neighborhood watch message board, is now testing and getting feedback on the placing of video cameras in Plaza Midwood. He's helped coordinate the selecting of 14 grid captains throughout the neighborhood, with only three grids without a leader. The grid captains organize contacts in their part of town to more quickly communicate if a crime is happening or an unknown person's seen.

The system, Willis said, is helping bring the neighborhood together.

“At least people are talking,” he said. “At least people are going out and knowing their neighbors and knowing who should be on the street and who shouldn't.”

Suspicious Vehicle Overlook

Attn: Neighbors

This was reported on 7/2/08.

Please be on the look out for this vehicle.

The vehicle was a dark red Toyota Corolla with a tag starting with the letters "TZY.

A neighbor saw this vehicle on our main road & ask them if they needed help. No they replied. This car left our neighborhood with their lights off & as quickly as possible. It was 5 am.

Be on the look out!

Have a safe 4th of July!

Patricia Vanek, Overlook Neighborhood Watch

Suspicious Vehicle Overlook

Neighbors:

Please be aware of this incident today. This is a sad occurence on a busy Saturday in our neighborhood.

This evening around 6:00pm (Saturday, May 24) several residents noticed a tan-colored Caprice parked at the entrance to the boat storage area.

The vehicle didn't have a license plate on it and there was dark tint on the windows. Shortly after the vehicle was observed, 4301 Andrew James Drive (corner house across from the boat storage lot) was broken into.

The suspect(s) apparently kicked in the front door and entered the residence. Thankfully, no one was home. We believe the suspect(s) saw the owners leave and that's when they broke into the residence.

The Police are aware of this break in.

Patricia Vanek, Overlook Neighborhood Watch

Mountain Island Promenade

Mountain Island Residents:

We need to keep Mountain Island Neighborhoods a great place to live. We need to support one another & stop this developer from making the Promenade another overcrowded shopping center!

Please plan to attend this meeting support our area & fight this developer!

· This petition will be heard at the Charlotte City Council meeting on Monday May 19th, starting at 6:30 pm in the Char-Meck Government Center.

· Although traffic and overcrowded schools are primary issues to us, the Council will only be considering what would change as a result of this petition. This petition would add at least one, as yet unknown, big box retailer, a drive around drug store, a revised convenience store/gas station, reduce the buffer zone with Chastain Parc and change the housing mix.

· Overlook Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting and to contact city council members. We particularly need to focus on members; Lassiter, Fox, Barnes and Turner as they appear to be sympathetic to our concerns.

· We oppose the second big box and the lack of specificity regarding the housing to be built. Please see the attached position paper for more details as to the basis for our opposition.

Suspicious Vehicles Claiborne Woods

Attn: Mountain Island Neighbors

Subject: Be on the Look out

Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 16:58:13 -0400
From: claibornewatch@aol.com

Neighbors: Be on the look out for a 80's Burnt RED Caprice style car Tag# XSX-4491. If this car is parked any where in our neighborhood,call 911.

Man Driving car is an accomplice of the men who stole my car. The last digits of the Tag number were gotten on the day the car was stolen. The first letters were gotten today.

The man was driving down Mt Holly Huntersville Rd past our neighborhood today. Do not approach the car ! Call 911!

Thanks and look out for your Neighbor
Ryan BrownWatch Chairman

Patricia Vanek, ONW