Problems Addressed: Solutions Offered (17. October 2007, 21:28 by Whitney) ~ A Community Talks
Marty Campbell, chair of the New Tacoma Neighborhood Council, and Patricia Lecy-Davis, owner of Embellish Salon, had the challenging job of moderating the community forum on 9th and Pacific tonight. Sanford and Sons provided a great space that was filled to capacity. So many people showed up we ran out of chairs! Most of the businesses were represented, as well as the BIA, TPD, City of Tacoma, Sound Transit, and others.
The forum provided a space to see where the area has come since a community meeting 18 months ago. Most of the items identified at the last meeting have improved. The main point of continued decline was the corner of 9th and Pacific near D Town Market.
Many good suggestions were made and the active participation of all parties, including Brick City and On the Rocks, greatly aided the discussion. The BIA blog will provide continued updates and announce future meetings.
Previously on Exit133
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Tacoma is hardly alone in its crime and nuisance problems downtown. Many other cities struggle with downtown crime issues as well.
New York’s subways had alot of vandalism and were out of control and avoided (if possible) by the public until the Transit Police started focusing on smaller crimes to avoid larger ones. They estimated there were 225,000 incidents of toll evasion each day.
Not seemingly a large crime. However, it created an atmosphere of lawlessness and escalation to larger crimes.
Fixing Broken Windows Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities
When sociologists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling introduced their “Broken Windows” thesis in 1982, it gained immediate attention from academics and policy makers alike. “Broken Windows” finally acknowledged the connection between disorder, fear, crime, and urban decay that has been playing out in America’s cities for decades. Kelling, an Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, has co-authored his latest book, Fixing Broken Windows, with Catherine M. Coles, a lawyer and urban anthropologist. In it they explain in detail their prescription for solving the pervasive problems of crime and decay in our nation’s urban centers: control disorderly behavior in public places generally and a significant drop in serious crime will follow.
Rather than relying on the commonly cited, often politicized “solutions” of the day (a tough death penalty, more prisons, “three-strikes-you’re-out”), Kelling and Coles offer fresh new strategies for restoring order to our communities. Indeed, they challenge the very tenets of modern law enforcement orthodoxy, suggesting that police get out of their cars and into the neighborhoods in partnership with private citizens and local civic organizations. Instead of reacting to crime, Fixing Broken Windows champions crime prevention.
But it is not a passive, “midnight basketball” approach to prevention. Kelling and Coles advocate an aggressive, get-tough confrontation of public disorder in its various forms: vagrancy, vandalism, panhandling, etc. Their approach worked in New York City’s subways, where felonies have fallen by 75% in the 1990s, and all across New York City as former Police Chief William Bratton implemented many of Kelling’s and Coles’ policy recommendations.
Perhaps Tacoma can consider such an approach.
Tacoma has been moving in the direction of community policing for a number of years now. While they still have an intimidating central station, they’ve added numerous neighborhood stations. Bike & foot police are out downtown as well. (This isn’t as feasible in most neighborhoods due to the low density.)
The challenge broken windows theory presents the community is how to enforce a sense of morality on a community – particularly when not everyone agrees on what the community morals are.
That is one of the challenges presented at the forum: Are the clubs improving the area by bringing people downtown who wouldn’t otherwise have come? Are the clubs creating a nuisance by encouraging large groups of young people to hang out late at night?
Besides, where’s the nearest all-night diner with greasy eggs and strong coffee to pick-up the post-club/bar crowd from downtown? (Just give some of the people somewhere else to go if they want to keep hanging out.)
2 | Posted by DavidS | Oct 19, 08:32 AM
Civility is not morality – and although it may be somewhat objective, waiting until nuisance behavior crosses the line into criminal behavior is not a good use of lmited security resources.
The area around 9th and Pacific might create a citizen watch group comprised of residents and the management of local businesses to establish agreed upon rules to which the stakeholders can commit.
This would relieve the police department and bring some needed order to downtown – but it must be democratic, have structure, commitment, and accountability.
3 | Posted by Laura Hanan | Oct 19, 10:10 AM
All very good comments. It seems to me that what keeps coming up is the need for the community to ban together in spite of perceptions and find a common goal. There has been suggestion for walk abouts and block watches, more frequent meetings. We tried to define “Unwanted Behavior” but got off track with personal defensiveness. Let’s do what we can to put away the past, and try to get to know each other. The banded presence will push away problems organically. We obviously are not going to be granted with more police anytime soon. So let’s get creative and take back our neighborhood. I heard many voices say they are willing so step up people!
4 | Posted by Penelope | Oct 19, 10:18 PM
Well there you have it Penelope. How do you form a unified community of diverse individuals? There must be a basis for unity.
E pluribus unum—-Out of the many, one.
What is needed is a first cause, trinitarian in form, to provide the basis for creating order out of chaos.
If such a first cause trinity could be revealed then it would just be a matter of the will of people to follow that model of Unity, Diversity, Community.
If there is no such trinity, then everything is just a matter of speculation—-Oh Hell!
5 | Posted by Mofo from the Hood | Oct 20, 10:12 AM
Erik B. quoted——advocate an aggressive, get-tough confrontation of public disorder in its various forms: vagrancy, vandalism, panhandling, etc. ——-
Crime prevention is better than letting crime happen and then respond, fer sure….but in that example only Vandalism is a crime…and people “act out” when they aren’t taking their meds as needed, and/or are So Bored, but it is the nature of some, especially those who are and will never be Russell employees, to act according to their station in life…..and I will argue that panhandling is self-employment, and vagrancy can easily be construed to include Consultants and the “between-jobs” citizens.
Amen, Tressie. I see that Erik B. left out public intoxication. Public intoxication is no more pleasant when the drunk person is a Russell employee or a homeless person. On the other hand there is a fair amount of money to be made by those businesses downtown that contribute to public intoxication. I guess if you are in the business of making money it is just fine to release drunks upon our sidewalks and roads.
Bad behavior, if you want to call it that, is not limited to one social strata or another. Often times there will be a call to clean up this “bad behavior” by those with money who engage in the same behavior themselves.
I think we should call it what it really is and that would be the removal of poor people from the downtown area. Be honest, be clear. Let people really understand the issues. Downtown doesn’t want poor people and any excuse will do. The sooner this is admitted to the better everyone will feel and people can respond accordingly to the truth.
7 | Posted by Crenshaw Sepulveda | Oct 22, 11:00 AM
Why can’t we all just “Co-exist”?!? You need all ages, races, and wealth levels to be a vibrant city. Everyone wants RULES about behavior, but the point has been made that what about when that behavior happens to be exhibited by a wealthy patron of the Matador? It could happen. I cringe to think that putting a noise ordinance in place could come back to bite Paddy Coins in the Irish ass. Next summer when the sidewalks are filled with Guinness guzzling yuppies at 11:00 at night, I’ll bet they will not be in compliance with the new noise ordinance people are screaming for. Be careful what you wish for. Communication and Values created by all in the neighborhood is key. We have enough rules forced upon us by government, don’t give them more power. Who would enforce them anyway? If we can’t get extra police down here to arrest the drug dealers, we better not see extra police with decimal devices show up.
8 | Posted by Penelope | Oct 22, 07:38 PM
6th Avenue is having the problems that downtown wishes it had. Plenty of people carrying on and causing grief for the adjacent residential area. You would think they were dealing with the problems of homelessness and delinquent youth that plague the downtown area. Indeed, the problems in the 6th Avenue business district are very much like those of downtown. Public urination, defecation, vomitation, and no doubt fornication and masturbation. You’ve got people that scrawl on walls and people that break into cars. Some have been passed out on the hoods of cars and lawns of homes.
What is different between the two areas is the local response. 6th Avenue wants the people there, they just don’t want the bad behavior. Downtown doesn’t want the people or the behavior.
9 | Posted by Crenshaw Sepulveda | Oct 23, 12:58 AM
“What is different between the two areas is the local response. 6th Avenue wants the people there, they just don’t want the bad behavior. Downtown doesn’t want the people or the behavior.”
Are you an expert on what downtown does or does not want?
I live and own property downtown –
As a resident and property owner, I want the area to thrive with different activities and people of all races and economic standing.
I don’t want: – people breaking the law. – screaming, selling drugs or having sex out on the sidewalk until 4 am. – poorly supervised, underage, vulnerable kids hanging out in an adult bar area, getting into trouble, and/or becoming victims of some of the ex-felons recently released from the DOC revolving door. – Drunk people trashing downtown or driving and putting innocent citizens lives at stake.
Your imply that those of us that want the things I have listed are racist, sexist, homophobes and against the poor.
It is just my opinion but I suggest you develop a legitimate debate instead of throwing out volatile and emotional generalizations.
11 | Posted by Laura Hanan | Oct 23, 09:34 AM
I don’t live downtown or own property there, but I spend a lot of time working to earn money and working to spend it in our downtown core. As someone who spent years working with area youth I know that Club Friday/Club Impact etc, has done fabulous things in the lives of youth in our community. Equally I know that our growing entertainment districts are making Tacoma a better place to live.
I remember not long ago when one only drove down 6th Ave with locked doors, and well, there was NO reason to go downtown.
That being said, as I have followed this debate I think that both the youth culture and the business culture agree on a better community.
Neighborhood watch groups and patrols have created tremendous transformation in areas of the city that were arguably much worse than what is being discussed here. Few have managed to successfully engage youth in the process. I see this conflict as an opportunity for the Downtown Core to lead the way. There are some great resources for learning how to do this if you are not comfortable making it up on your own.
Just my humble opinion.
13 | Posted by Kitty | Oct 24, 10:22 AM
Conflict as an opportunity for Downtown to lead the way. This is what downtown needs, more thinking like this. Kitty, you have restored my faith in humanity and actually make me feel hopeful about downtown. You are right. Neighborhoods that come together and engage youth will do more for downtown than fancy hanging planters, banners, or guys with noisy leaf blowers.
14 | Posted by Crenshaw Sepulveda | Oct 24, 10:30 PM
Well, I am a big fan of planters, banners and blowers too :-)
15 | Posted by Kitty | Oct 25, 11:04 AM
ALL parts are important pieces in becoming a better downtown.
16 | Posted by Marty | Oct 25, 12:12 PM
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