SOLUTION TO CRIME IN PUBLIC HOUSING IS STRONG PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN RESIDENTS
AND POLICE

Residents of public housing have the same right as everyone else to be free
of crime in their neighborhoods. Asheville's new four-officer patrol unit
for housing projects establishes a vital presence.

Asheville had such a presence, under the ARGUS (Asheville Residents and
Government United Strategy) program, until about 18 months ago, when the
unit was dissolved for lack of money.

Since then, the Asheville Housing Authority has had its own security
forces, supplemented since July by part-time police patrols in the
Deaverview and Pisgah View complexes.

That set off a chain reaction as crime from those two complexes spread out
to other public housing units and police stepped up activities there as
well. But there is only so much that part-time patrols can do.

It clearly has not been enough for residents such as Leonora Boyd of
Deaverview. "My biggest thing is the drug activity," she said. "Clear it
out as much as possible. Make it safe for the kids to be able to be
outside, ride bicycles and play."

Children were out playing at Deaverview last May when George Boston, who
was free on bail on murder charges, was killed by multiple gunshots.

Fortunately, none of the children were hit. That was not the case at Pisgah
View in July, when a 10-year-old girl was grazed by a bullet fragment that
went into the car in which she was riding.

Part-time patrols are better than nothing, but they are no substitute for
officers who spend all their time in a neighborhood and get to know the
residents. "We want to get back to the way we were in the mid '90s with
ARGUS," said Police Chief Will Annarino, "where our officers knew all the
residents' councils, all the permanent residents of the developments, and
they had great communication with each other."

The new unit, which began work Thursday, is made up of a lieutenant and
three officers who each will act as community resource officers for one or
more housing complex. The department already has community resource
officers in each of its five geographical patrol districts and is pleased
with the results.

Money for the new unit came from city funds, including an extra $150,000
added as part of the city budget deal in June. Annarino said the department
wants to expand the unit during the coming year and has applied for a
three-year federal community-policing grant that would pay and equip three
more officers.

The changes come too late for Odell Dixon, an 18-year-old who was shot and
killed at Lee Walker Heights Apartments on Dec. 11. They may come too late
to mean much for Leonora Boyd, who wants to move out of Deaverview by summer.

Nevertheless, they should make life a little better for those who live in
Housing Authority neighborhoods.

"During the summertime," Boyd said, "there is so much drug activity going
on you can't let the kids go outside and play because it's not safe."

That is intolerable. The solution is a partnership between residents and
police to chase out the drug dealers, and anyone else who threatens public
safety. The new police unit is an important step in forging that
partnership. Now it's up the officers, and the residents.