POLICING THE STREETS

When police found 8-month-old Romeo Randolph dead in an East Walnut Street
residence last month, it wasn't their first call to the area.

The area of Taylor, Walnut and Mulberry streets, just east of downtown,
ranks as one of the hottest spots in the city, according to Kokomo Police
Department statistics.

The toddler marked the sixth homicide this year, but the first for that
area, which in years past has been marred by crime and drug activity.

"At one time, we were prominently on the north end tracking down drug
dealers," said KPD Maj. Thomas Edington. "I don't see that anymore. I think
the community has diversified more than 10 years ago."

Overseeing the criminal investigation section, Edington said police look to
the community for help. That help comes in the form of the Neighborhood
Directed Policing program, which helps residents get involved with police
and play a role in crime prevention.

The concept is aimed at identifying problems in neighborhoods and cleaning
up unsightly properties and areas where drug dealers and other criminals
are more prominent, he said.

To that end, officers have one-on-one interaction with residents and
business owners in each of the city's 16 neighborhoods. In each
neighborhood, police work with the Kokomo Street Department Refuse Unit to
target and remove rundown buildings and other debris.

Many rental properties on the northeast side notorious for drug use and
hang outs have been torn down or renovated, he said.

"I think the city is doing a good job," Edington said. "A lot of people are
moving into low-income housing and apartment complexes and out of the line
of fire."

While drugs, thefts, burglaries, robberies and even murder occurs in nearly
every Kokomo neighborhood, the northeast side bears the brunt, according to
Kokomo Police Department crime statistics.

Calls for service in any given neighborhood range from burglary to robbery,
unwelcome guests, loud parties to "self-initiated activity," referring to
crimes witnessed by officers during routine patrol.

Last year, Kokomo police responded to 23,899 calls for service. Of those,
1,725 came from the northeast side, the second-highest grid in the city for
police calls.

KPD divides the city into 225 grids, or small areas, as a tool to pinpoint
and review crime areas.

Due to regular calls and walk-ins to the police department in City Hall,
downtown ranks No. 1 in number of calls made.

On the street

Kokomo Police Officer Larkin Fourkiller, who has patrolled the northeast
side's streets for three years, said the statistics cast a bad light on the
area.

"There's certainly hot spots on the northeast side, just like any other
part of the city -- the northwest, southeast and southwest," Fourkiller
said. "It's just not the north side."

He said the majority of the calls he responds to are traffic accidents,
domestic disputes, battery and unwelcome quests.

"Drug calls are not as not prominent as most people think," he said. "I
won't get them any more than traffic wrecks and domestics.

"I see the drug problem getting minimized. This police department works
very hard and has come up with a lot of programs to better enforce and deal
with drug offenders. I think we doing a good job in addressing the drug
issues in Kokomo."

Statistics show the majority of requests for service originate from the
police department in City Hall.

"Sometimes, when I get out of roll call, there are four or five people
waiting for someone to help them."

When it comes to the dealing with residents, Fourkiller said he feels right
at home talking the people and occasionally shooting hoops with the
youngsters in the area.

"I interact with that community," he said. "I get out and talk to all kinds
of people -- kids, adults and the elderly. I get along very well. I like to
interact with the community. When I see people outside, especially kids
playing basketball, I make sure they know who I am. It gives them a sort of
encouragement. My rapport with the people is quite well."

Fourkiller said the key to gaining most people's respect is treating them
like a regular person.

"A lot of times I will get out and just talk to them as a person, and they
ask me things like, 'How are you doing?' and 'How's your job doing?'" he said.

"Sometimes it's not about talking about police matters. It's just
interacting with the people as individuals. It gives them a better
relationship with you instead of thinking it always has to with drug
problems or crime. I know I can't reach everybody, but I try to reach the
ones I can."

A closer look

While the overall numbers reveal a slight decrease, the number of violent
crimes, including homicides, rapes and aggravated assaults, has risen in
recent years.

Randolph is one of six homicides so far this year -- the same number as all
of last year.

On Feb. 8, Teresa J. Cooper, 48, became the first homicide when she was
found dead inside her West North Street home. She had been stabbed numerous
times and beaten, according to police.

Lt. Donald Whitehead said the February attack was likely not random, but is
an isolated event.

Ruled an arson, detectives continue to search for the person responsible
for setting a house fire Feb. 19 at 811 S. Bell St., killing a woman and
four of her children.

Amy Parrish, 25, her sons, Dacota Rasmussen, 4, and Caleb Parrish, 2, and
stepson, Casey Parrish, 11, all died of smoke inhalation, according to
police reports. The father, Michael Parrish, escaped the flames.

Police have made an arrest in the Randolph homicide, but Cooper's death and
the fire remain under investigation.

While homicides increase, overall crime has gone down since last year,
according to the KPD's Uniform Crime Report, which was released to The
Kokomo Tribune this week.

The 2004 statistics revealed the number of reported "Part 1" crimes --
consisting of theft, burglary, aggravated assault, robbery, rape and murder
- -- dropped by about 6 percent from 3,223 in 2003 to 3,035 in 2004.

Robberies and burglaries have declined. In 2004, police reported 19 less
robberies and 90 less burglaries than the year before.

Drugs, which police say is the root of most crime, remain a growing a
problem throughout the city.