Saturation patrols among methods implemented to crack down on crime
By Glenn Smith
The Post and Courier
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — A pair of young men glared at North Charleston police officer Sid Lewis as they passed his cruiser on a dark and gritty stretch of road that’s seen its share of drugs, guns and bloodshed in recent years.
On this night, the streets of the Waylyn neighborhood were virtually empty, the drug-slingers and hoods laying low. The young men eyeballing Lewis quickly ambled off as a second cruiser appeared. Then, a third patrol car passed by. The message was clear: Crime is not welcome here.
“It’s real quiet,” Lewis said with a nod of satisfaction. “The nights we’re here, you don’t get any calls.”
These so-called saturation patrols are among a series of innovative strategies North Charleston police have employed this year to stem a tide of violence that has stained the city’s image. Nine months into the year, the approach appears to be paying off for a city repeatedly cited as one of America’s most dangerous places.
Between January and the end of the August, violent crime was down 20 percent in the city compared with same period last year, with fewer homicides, robberies of individuals, rapes and assaults. Holdups at businesses increased, but police said much of that can be attributed to robberies early in the year for which arrests have been made. Burglaries and motor vehicle thefts also are down.
“This is important for North Charleston, it really is,” Police Chief Jon Zumalt said. “We are seeing every indication of a pretty significant reduction in violent crime this year, and we need to continue it.”
Even with the drop, North Charleston had more violent crimes than neighboring communities. For example, while North Charleston had 124 fewer aggravated assaults this year, its total is still 132 more than the city of Charleston experienced in the same period. But it is certainly a move in the right direction for North Charleston, and Zumalt views the change as confirmation that new methods are working.
With support from city and civic leaders, Zumalt and his department have made a concerted push to expand and better target police resources, build community partnerships and attack the violence at its roots.
Among other things, police have:
-Brought in a national consultant to help devise strategies for combating the retaliatory violence cited in many of North Charleston’s 55 homicides over the past two years.
-Created saturation patrols that place additional officers in violence-prone neighborhoods during peak crime periods. Police plan to hire 15 more officers to make the patrols a permanent, dedicated assignment.
-Created a special unit that tracks repeat offenders and gathers intelligence.
-Expanded use of computer-aided crime analysis so that trends and hot spots quickly can be identified and dealt with.
-Partnered with clergy members who serve as peacemakers, working to calm tensions and discourage vengeance in the wake of killings.
-Held monthly meetings, a back-to-school initiative and other events to build stronger relations with a community that has, in years past, been distrustful of the department.
-Established a transport unit to ferry suspects to jail so police officers can remain on the streets to fight crime.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum, said he is particularly impressed by the efforts of police and the community to build a relationship based on mutual respect. He said he might well cite North Charleston as a model for other cities to follow.
“There is a real sense of wanting to make things work, to make the relationship real. It’s not just lip service,” he said. “I think there is going to be some real, long-term benefits that come from this project.”
Wexler said police also have demonstrated a willingness to look hard at their practices and try approaches that work elsewhere.
Earlier this year, police brought in the Los Angeles Police Department’s chief of detectives to discuss ways to end retribution-based violence. Zumalt also sent a team of crime analysts to New Jersey to learn from Newark Police Chief Garry McCarthy, a top crime strategist who helped oversee New York City’s precipitous drop in violence. Next month, Zumalt, Mayor Keith Summey and a local pastor working with police will attend a national crime summit in Washington to pick up more ideas.
“We’ve had difficult problems to solve,” Zumalt said. “Instead of just sitting here trying to invent things, we’re reaching out and bringing in best thoughts and practices from around the country.”
Summey meets regularly with Zumalt to gauge the initiatives and he has helped marshal support from City Council to fund the various endeavors, which don’t come cheap. Hiring 15 new police officers, for example, will likely cost the city upwards of $1 million when pay, benefits, equipment and training are added up, the mayor estimated.
“That investment that is going to pay off in terms of improving the quality of life for our citizens, the image of our city and the safety of our streets,” Summey said. “And that is the bottom line.”
Elder James Johnson, a community activist, said the city and its businesses still need to do more to help young people find viable jobs so they won’t be lured into an overcrowded drug trade that has resulted in so much heartache.
But Johnson, long a strident critic of North Charleston police and their tactics, has changed his view of the department this year after working with Zumalt and seeing the changes that have taken place. “Some of this is really working,” he said. “I never seen a police chief, in my lifetime, that has gone as far as he went this year.”
Copyright 2008 The Post and Courier