The air of political crisis hung over the gymnasium of Mendenhall Middle School in Greensboro last night as hundreds of residents of New Irving Park sought answers from police and elected officials about the recent murder of a young woman and a string of property crimes that took place over the Christmas holidays.
Cars lined Willoughby Boulevard as far as two blocks away from the school and spilled out into side streets like Saint Regis Road. Inside the gymnasium, all seats were full, leaving an overflow crowd to stand in the wings or sit on the floor. Mayor Yvonne Johnson sat in a chair against the back wall, as did Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat, at whose elbow stood blogger Ryan Shell. City Manager Mitchell Johnson was flanked by police Assistant Chief Gary Hastings and Councilman Zack Matheny, whose district encompasses the neighborhood. The manager did not address the residents.
Other elected officials in attendance included at-large Councilwoman Mary Rakestraw, at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins and Guilford County Commissioner Mike Winstead Jr. Former District 3 Councilman Tom Phillips was also present.
Topmost on the residents’ minds was the death of 26-year-old Regan Bailey, whose body was found by her mother on Jan. 16.Police are investigating the incident as a homicide; officials warned at the outset that little could be said about the matter.
“Are we looking at a random situation?” Hastings asked rhetorically. “Was this person targeted? That’s the question on all our hearts and minds.... We really don’t know. I know that’s not what you want to hear. In the last several days, we have outlaid a massive amount of resources to answer that question.”
He and other police officers present said Bailey’s death was probably not linked to a recent string of property crimes because most thieves prefer to avoid confrontation. They counseled the residents that letting would-be thieves know you’re home and reporting suspicious behavior to the police is generally an effective deterrent to neighborhood crime.
Hastings noted that rising crime levels in Greensboro are not isolated to New Irving Park.
“We are busier than we’ve ever been in Greensboro, and expectations are higher than they’ve ever been,” he said. “We have a gang problem – as many as twenty gangs of various ethnicities. This past Christmas we were confronted with a huge robbery situation in the East Market Street.” He said that those responsible for 11 recent robberies were in custody and claimed for the department a 70 percent clearance rate for the 33 homicides that took place in 2007.
When the forum was opened up for questions, Matheny urged, “Let’s try to remain as professional as possible.”
There was grumbling in the room when many in the audience strained to hear Linda Keveryn, vice president of the Elm Homeowners Association. Later, scattered cheering erupted when she made her point.
“We need to find out why our crime rates are higher than other major cities in North Carolina,” she said. “That’s our problem, and that’s the city manager’s problem.”
The comment seemed to put Hastings on the defensive.
“Raleigh always historically had a lower homicide rate,” he said. “They’re a more urbanized area with fewer pockets of high crime. They have an astronomical solvability rate.”
He added, “We can’t control unemployment. We can’t control lack of education. We can’t control landlords that let their property get run down.”
Keveryn shot back: “We want you to reassure us. Are you going to hire more police officers?”
The police department has long requested additional funding to train and deploy additional officers; council has traditionally been reluctant to raise taxes to pay for them.
Heightened demand for better police services and for demonstrated crime suppression from residents of one of Greensboro’s most affluent neighborhoods clearly made an impression on city officials, particularly Matheny, a thirty-something financial consultant with AG Edwards who was elected to his first term last November.
“I’ve gotten several phone calls,” the councilman said. “That’s why we’re here tonight.”
1 comment:
I suffered violent crime in Greensboro beginning in the 1960s while still a child and was nearly beaten to death on the campus of Dudley High School in 1970 but no one in Irving Park cared as long as their neighborhood was considered safe.
I guess now Greensboro's wealthiest neighborhoods will finally reap what they have sewn.
Post a Comment