NEIGHBORHOOD IS CLEANING UP

Reverend Leads Fight To Increase Safety

GULFPORT - The Rev. Nathaniel Jeanpierre used to wear combat fatigues while
doing yardwork at his home in the Olivet subdivision in Orange Grove.

The military uniform sent a message to the drug dealers operating out of a
house next door.

"You don't intimidate me," it said.

Jeanpierre is waging an ongoing battle to transform a once-blighted
community into a decent, safe place to live.

About five years ago, his street was a dangerous place.

"It was very scary," Jeanpierre said. "People were scared to leave their
houses."

It was common to see kids standing outside smoking pot and selling crack,
he said.

"You would've thought it was Burger King drive-through the way they were
coming for their drugs," he said.

Jeanpierre said vicious street brawls often erupted between rival gang
members, generating more fear throughout the neighborhood.

Jeanpierre, a veteran of three tours of duty in Vietnam, quickly grew tired
of living in a war zone.

He worked to have drug dealers on his street evicted.

"I contacted their landlord and told him what was happening on their
property," he said. "We've got this end of the street quiet now."

It was the first move in Jeanpierre's campaign to clean up his neighborhood.

Working with police

About two years ago, Jeanpierre, 68, launched a Community Watch program in
the subdivision with help from the Gulfport Police Department.

He walked door to door to recruit people.

Volunteers attend a training class offered by the police in which they
learn to monitor their neighborhoods for criminal activity.

He no longer recruits door to door. He said he doesn't have to because so
many people have called him and asked to join.

Jeanpierre said the program's biggest benefit is that it got the police
more involved in the community.

"Before Community Watch, you called the police and they wouldn't come right
away," he said. "The program can only go so far, but it got the police out
to the neighborhood quickly."

At least one Gulfport police officer attends the group's monthly meetings.

Officer Robert Johnson, who coordinates Community Watch efforts throughout
the city, said the program helps police as well as residents.

"It boosts our morale to see neighbors assisting us," he said.

Thomas Hawkins, a 16-year resident of Olivet and a block captain in the
Community Watch, said the program is making a difference in the
subdivision, but he added that a crime problem persists.

Somebody has been breaking the street lamps, he said, and the increased
darkness provides cover for criminals.

A few months ago, Hawkins awoke to find his pickup on fire.

"Somebody had broken into it and stolen the stereo," he said. "Then they
set it on fire, right in my driveway."

Uniting the neighborhood

About two months ago, Jeanpierre stepped up his efforts to improve the
community. He organized a homeowners' association for the Olivet and Bel
Aire subdivisions.

So far he has enlisted more than 50 people into the organization, which
focuses on raising the neighborhoods' property values.

"We want people to take pride in where they live," said Ken Henderson, 77,
the association's vice president.

And if people aren't willing to do so, Jeanpierre is ready to twist some arms.

He has reported many neighborhood residents to the city-code enforcement
office for having overgrown lawns, broken-down vehicles parked in their
yards and other violations.

He said the code office shares his vigilance.

"They'd write their mama a ticket," he said.

Working with the city, Jeanpierre has gotten several eyesores in the area
demolished. He keeps a list of run-down dwellings that he wants removed.

Part of the association's charter, which is still being crafted, will call
for limits to the number of rental homes in the neighborhood.

Jeanpierre said he believes that people take better care of homes when they
own them.

To that end, he has bought a riding mower and other lawn-care equipment,
which is available to homeowners to help keep their yards tidy.

"We aren't just interested in getting the bad people out," he said. "We
want to help the good people."

Though he acknowledges there is much to be done, Jeanpierre is confident
that his community will be a truly nice place to live.

"This subdivision is under a metamorphosis," he said. "The caterpillar is
in the cocoon, but pretty soon a butterfly will emerge."