WILSON'S GROWTH ALTERS THE NATURE OF VIOLENCE

Officers Still Consider County A Safe Place

LEBANON - Staring out the front door of the Criminal Justice Center,
Sheriff Terry Ashe recalled the ''bloody year'' this county has seen.

In the jail behind him were nine people charged with murder and several
more charged with attempted murder.

But it wasn't just the number that stood out. As Ashe said, it's the
''unusual nature'' of the homicides over the past 16 months that have been
different in Wilson County. ''Some gruesome murders,'' he said.

Law enforcement officials across the county say the killings are an
unexplained coincidence, part of a cycle of violent crime that ebbs and
flows. But they acknowledge that Wilson County is changing with its
continued growth.

Mt. Juliet is the state's fastest-growing city over the past 20 years,
according to U.S. Census figures. And while the entire county is getting
more populated, all of west Wilson County is exploding.

''Growing pains'' is how Mt. Juliet Chief Detective Gwin King put it.
''Burglaries are up, vehicle theft, this type of thing. When you grow like
we have, it's something you're going to have to deal with.''

Still, the killing of Michael Bochette, a popular student-athlete at Mt.
Juliet High who was in his sophomore year at Cumberland University, shook
the community - especially coming so shortly after the execution-style
slaying of Christy Waller, 24, who was expecting a child.

''It's easy to get complacent because Mt. Juliet and Wilson County has such
a peaceful lifestyle,'' Mt. Juliet Police Chief Kenneth Martin said.
''There's that feeling of being able to leave the car door unlocked and
sleep with the house unlocked. This makes you realize you are never that
far from crime. Criminals don't know any boundary.''

The summer of 2001 saw both a violent double homicide, in which a man
stabbed to death his former girlfriend and her companion, and the widow of
a former Lebanon police chief being beaten to death in a home break-in.

Still, Lebanon Police Chief Randy Trammel said homicides are actually down
in his city, a trend that mimics events nationwide. The federal Bureau of
Justice Statistics says the major indicators of the nation's ''serious
violent crime'' have been steadily declining since the early 1990s. In
Lebanon, since the city worked four homicides in 1998, there was one in
1999, two in 2000, three in 2001 and two so far in 2002.

Trammel credits increased patrols in areas noted for drug trafficking.

''Especially in public housing areas, we do a lot of aggressive patrol,''
Trammel said. ''We used to have two-three murders a year in public housing
areas, but we've cut that back. A lot of these murders happen over drugs.''

But drugs are not only in public housing areas now. They've also filtered
into suburban and residential areas, which describes nearly all of Mt. Juliet.

''In a place like Mt. Juliet, it's hard to isolate high crime areas,''
Trammel said.

Martin says the trend of Ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine has not
escaped Wilson County any more than the rest of the nation.

''Drugs aren't new, but the violence that goes with it is,'' Martin said.
''You see these changes in society, and you have these things creep in.
Thousands of TV personalities, singers and athletes are promoting the wrong
thing. It's possible for a straight-A student to turn because of a singer
he likes. Because of what they are exposed to, I don't think kids
understand anymore the finality of shooting someone with a gun.''

Still, those with a firsthand view believe Wilson County is a desirable and
safe place to live.

''We've had years where we've had a lot more murders than another year, and
then there are years with very few homicides,'' said David Durham, an
assistant district attorney for more than 15 years in Wilson County.
''Sometimes it hits you all at once. But I wouldn't make anything out of it.''

''It's a period where you wonder, 'What's happening?' '' Ashe said. ''It's
the horrible crimes of a few that have been well-publicized. But the county
is full of wonderful people.''

''It's not 'the sky is falling,' '' Martin said. ''But we are seeing these
problems can exist here. We've had programs. But, it's hard to admit, we
didn't do enough. This has hit close to home, and it makes us realize these
things are here. The question is: What are we going to do about it?''