At our last meeting, the East CAC held a brainstorming session with the Raleigh Police Department to establish policing priorities in our area. Here are the results as compiled by Mr. Michael Ballen, RPD’s Community Policing Coordinator.
Lions Park/East CAC Residents Establish Community-Directed Priorities
On July 20, over 75 citizens from the Lions Park community joined with representatives from RPD to develop collaborative strategies to address neighborhood public safety and quality-of-life concerns. Participants were divided into work groups and came up with several priorities for community policing efforts. These priorities are listed below, ranked by degree of urgency:
Loitering at Food Lion and Maxway: Neighbors feel that people loiter at the two stores in the 1100 block of Raleigh Boulevard and cause trouble.
Problem Businesses/Houses: Neighbors feel that some areas in the community harbor and condone behavior that conflicts with the quality of life. Specific areas include the 1600 and 1700 blocks of Capital Boulevard, the 1100 block of Raleigh Boulevard, and rooming houses.
Field Office for Community Police Officer: Neighbors feel that having a RPD field office for their community officer would offer more police presence and create a long-term relationship between the police and the community.
Youth Programs: Neighbors believe they need more programs that will target youth and equip them with job skills and life strategies.
Gunshots: Neighbors expressed concern regarding the unwanted discharging of firearms in the area that at times can lead to serious injuries. They feel afraid that innocent persons may be hurt.
Speeding and Littering: Neighbors feel that motorists fail to obey posted speed signs, and think more speed enforcement would curtail this problem. They also feel that the community has an abundance of trash due to littering.
Gang Activity: Neighbors feel that the gang activity is becoming a problem due to an abundance of young people who hang out with nothing to do.
Response Time: Neighbors would like to see faster response time when they call for assistance.
Neighborhood Watch: Neighbors expressed interest in starting and implementing structured Neighborhood Watch groups within the area.
Drugs and Prostitution: Neighbors want to see the police take more
enforcement action to stop street-level drug sales and prostitution.
Youth Curfew: Neighbors would like to see a curfew to prevent youth from
hanging out on the streets all night.
Greenway Patrols: Neighbors would like to see increased police visibility on the greenway.
Police Empathy: Neighbors asked for more empathy from officers during
face-to-face encounters in situations in which they are reporting crime, as well as during general communication.
For more information, please contact Mr. Michael Ballen, the Raleigh Police Department’s Community Policing Coordinator. Michael dot Ballen at ci dot raleigh dot nc dot us.
View the PDF version of this report here.