BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL

New Chief Puts Some Wheels Under His Priorities

Fayetteville's new police chief said traffic enforcement in Fayetteville
will be one of his first priorities. The man isn't kidding.

Already, police are more visible in neighborhoods and on city streets.
Vehicles patrol during peak driving times, or are monitoring traffic on
roads to keep watch for speeders. Chief Tom McCarthy confirms that it's not
a coincidence. He is concerned about fatalities, and wants to use
enforcement and education as a way to reduce that tragic number.

Just the sight of law officers, as one theory of community policing goes,
can be an effective crime-prevention method. Enforcement makes a strong
point as well.

Drivers who've rarely bothered to heed signs of speed limits of 45 mph and
under are suddenly seeing blue lights flashing in the rear-view mirror.
After all, to search for speeders and red-light runners in Fayetteville is
akin to fishing in a hatchery. Success is assured as long as the dragnet is
cast.

The chief will find his other two priorities to be more daunting
challenges. He wants to fight street narcotics in Fayetteville, and he
wants to reduce property crimes.

Former Police Chief Ron Hansen left McCarthy a strong foundation upon which
to build a narcotics-enforcement program. Hansen made it a priority to
return embattled neighborhoods to residents who had felt intimidated and
almost under siege by street-corner drug dealers. Some neighborhoods began
to change, but they need the continued enforcement to turn the corner from
troubled to peaceful.

Realistically, no police chief of any city will be able to singly win a war
against narcotics trafficking, in that the corruption is global in scope.
But local law enforcement officers can, and must, enforce peace on the streets.

As for reducing property crime, McCarthy has his work cut out for him.

Figures released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that
Fayetteville's rate of break-ins and burglaries was above the national
average in 1999.

Fayetteville can't deny that property crime is a serious problem.
Neighborhood Watch is effective. But that's true only when people are in
neighborhoods during the day to keep watch. Suburbs that are empty during
the day are easy pickings for housebreakers.

McCarthy may have his own ideas about property-crime prevention. But
business groups, especially the members of the Chamber of Commerce, should
put their heads together and offer their thoughts. He's the chief, but
we're all in this fight together.

Property crime, after all, poses problems not only for the victims, but for
economic developers and businesses looking to recruit employers and
top-flight professionals.

This issue was recently highlighted during lively debates over the
aesthetics of razor wire as opposed to business security needs. Perhaps
some day it won't be an either/or choice of attractiveness or security.
Fayetteville could have both.

The new chief hasn't gone into details about his plan to combat property
crime. But given the evidence of the department's quick response to traffic
enforcement, it's a safe assumption that he will take it seriously.