IPD TAKES ROLL CALLS TO THE STREETS

Latest Strategy For Community Policing Has Officers Start Shifts In
Drug-Problem Areas

A man in a green jacket, identified as a lookout for street-level drug
dealers, pushes his bike through the 2400 block of Guilford Avenue,
ignoring a stop sign.

He passes about 10 Indianapolis police officers, standing in the
intersection as they conduct a pre-shift, afternoon briefing.

The bicyclist quickly heads south, presumably to alert other young toughs
to the officers' presence.

Officer Tiffany Woods sees his departure as a victory.

"If that's all I can get out of it, fine," said Woods, 25, who patrols the
streets as part of her beat. "It'll please my neighborhood and reduce the
crime. If I can make the slightest difference, then I've succeeded."

The gathering of officers Thursday was a "roving roll call," the latest
community policing strategy in a department that is trying to show police
presence even as it struggles with staffing shortages.

Roll calls traditionally are held at police headquarters or substations or
done remotely through computer hookups. During them, officers receive shift
assignments, learn about department policy changes and are alerted to
important items, such as suspects or stolen cars to look for.

North District Deputy Chief William Reardon said police chose the outdoor
approach to roll calls because while they realize they cannot eradicate
neighborhood nuisance crimes, they can stay on top of them.

"I think it keeps some of the suspects a little off guard for that day, and
a couple of days afterward," said Reardon.

Sometimes, neighborhood groups are alerted in advance that a roving roll
call is planned. Locations can be the result of recent crimes. Such was the
case for one held recently near the 2200 block of North Denny Street after
an 89-year-old neighborhood activist was killed in her home by intruders
during a robbery.

Other times, locations originate with the beat officer. Woods suggested the
Guilford roll call based on her work in the neighborhood.

In her three years as a patrolwoman, Woods has worked to reduce the number
of prostitutes in her patrol area, loosely bordered by 25th and 16th
streets and Massachusetts and College avenues. Woods said the biggest
hassle now is about 30 drug dealers.

The roll calls can be a show of force, reminding dealers someone is
watching them.

"Some get the hint. But there are those (dealers) here who will say, 'I am
not going anywhere,' " Woods said.

"That's when I respond, 'Well, we'll see about that.' "

Chris Provence, a Guilford Avenue resident who has conducted his own night
patrols, said he realizes police can't be in all places all the time. But
the roll calls are a sign, he said, that they try.

Another Guilford Avenue resident, the Rev. Willie Sparks, said the roll
call is a "good presence" and helps boost crime-fighting efforts by
residents and neighborhood groups.

Sparks, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, said the roll calls will be
effective as long as they "come indiscriminately and are disrupting" to
drug dealers.

Officer Andre Bell, who works with Woods, agreed.

"This lets them know we are serious about it," he said.