Chief seeks input on major concerns to be targeted in North Charleston
BY JAMES SCOTT, The Charleston S.C. Post and Courier
More focus on fighting drug dealers. Increased police presence in neighborhoods. Better customer service when dealing with concerned residents.
Those were just some of the ideas tossed out Monday night when North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt sat down with City Council members, neighborhood association leaders and members of the business community for a planning session aimed at setting goals for the 270-person police department.
Zumalt emphasized that ideas presented during Monday’s meeting at the Coliseum Club North will help set priorities for the coming year regarding major concerns the communities want to see tackled.
“This helps us as far as identifying what we see are the needs in an area and what the perceived needs of the community are for an area,” Zumalt said. “This is their town. The people need to have input on what we should be working on.”
The meeting came as the department and police chief have come under intense public scrutiny over the Nov. 7 shooting death of Asberry Wylder, a mentally ill black man killed by officers who said he tried to stab a police officer as they tried to arrest him on Rivers Avenue. Wylder’s death, which has caused outcry in the black community, is being investigated by the State Law Enforcement Division, the U.S. Justice Department and lawyers hired by Wylder’s family.
That controversy briefly emerged at Monday’s invitation-only conference after a local television news crew incorrectly reported that the meeting was open to the public. City officials ended up turning away a handful of people who came wanting to talk about the shooting.
During opening remarks, Mayor Keith Summey focused attention away from the recent shooting and onto goals for 2004. “We are not here to discuss recent incidents,” Summey told the approximately 50 people who attended. “This was planned prior to recent incidents that have occurred.”
Ideas presented Monday ranged from finding ways to reduce the number of abandoned properties, where crimes sometimes originate, to turning up the heat on drug dealers. Other ideas included consolidating police services with the county for unincorporated areas and training officers to be more considerate when dealing with upset residents -- something some city leaders have referred to as “customer service.”
“If my car is broken into, I don’t want an officer to tell me, ‘Well, this is the 10th one I’ve seen tonight,’ ” said John Pharis, who represented the Olde North Charleston Neighborhood Council. “It’s important to me,” he said.
Zumalt, accompanied by his command staff, said the ideas will be factored into his planning for goals for the coming year. Once he has compiled the list, he said he will find ways to target key issues.
One idea he suggested is assigning officers to certain neighborhoods. When officers are not responding to calls, they would be out driving around and meeting residents in those communities. “We’re going to better manage the use of free time,” Zumalt said.
Summey commended the chief’s efforts to focus on “community policing,” something he said is a first for the state’s third-largest city. “This is getting down to the nitty-gritty within the community,” Summey said. “After tonight, the police will have a road map.”