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Chapel Hill Police Put Aside Fear,
Reach Out to Children, Residents
BYAMYSWAN
STAFF WRITER
“Hello, Chapel Hill police.”
Seven o’clock on a Saturday night, and,
except for the receptionist answering calk
behind plate-glass windows, the station
appears empty. The sound of a radio drifts
into the waiting area from behind the glass,
and an officer stops by to rehash the day’s
football scores.
It’s not at all like on TV, with police
rushing in and out, and people waiting to
be fingerprinted. In fact, it’s kind of disap
pointing as far as excitement is concerned.
Facing Fear
Out on patrol, the situation is a little
different.
Robert Carden, a public safety officer, is
spending his 12-hour shift in area two, a
territory that encompasses all of campus
and reaches the border between Chapel
Hill and Durham County.
Heading down N.C. 54, the radar gun
tracksamotorcycle going 72 ina3s. Carden
turns on the flashing lights and takes off
after it. Down the hill, the biker pulls offthe
road, and Carden leaves his car to talk to
the man.
Lucky for Carden, the guy doesn’t give
him any trouble.
But police work does not always go this
smoothly. Dramatically increased crime
rates in the Chapel Hill area have forced
officers to deal with the feet that the next
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Public safety
officer Russ
Woody
responds to a
call Friday
while
patrolling
Chapel Hill.
Community Members Try to Stanch Spread of Crime With Grass-Roots Tactics
BY ION GOLDBERG
STAFF WRO
Three miles from the luxury of The
Oaks, there lives another Chapel Hill.
Oliver Davis, a 9-year-old fourth
grader at Carrboro Elementary School,
said he had to take a roundabout route
from the bus stop to his home every
afternoon to avoid the drug dealers in his
neighborhood.
Antwan Fouschee, an 11-year-old
sixth-grader at Guy B. Phillips Middle
School, said that although no one had
offered him drugs, drug pushers were
always circling, searching for deals.
Some members of the community
DTOMSSrafU*
Nate Davis, Hargraves Recreation Center facility manager, takes a breather
during a basketball game with Kisha Newsome and several other area youths.
person they pull over might not be courte
ous, that they might have an automatic
weapon under their jacket.
“There’s a lot more of it and it’s a lot
more violent,” Carden said of area crime.
When he first came to Chapel Hill seven
years ago, if anyone saw a gun, the force
would talk about it for two weeks, he said.
“Now,” Carden said, “we see guns two
or three times a day. Guns are everywhere.
“It makes you a lot more aware, a lot
more safety-conscious,” he said.
Lt. Tim Presley, who has been involved
in Chapel Hill law enforcement for 18
years, said this increased safety awareness
had resulted in police taking a more offen
sive role. A role that can cause people to
lose respect for the police, he said.
“It’s a shame because it really some
what hinders the relationship between the
police and the community,” he said.
Presley said working in Chapel Hill had
becomemoreofachallenge. “Severalyears
ago, calls that concerned a crime in progress
were few and far between,” he said.
Now, those calls come in more fre
quently, and officers think their jobs are
more dangerous, he said.
“Officers experience fear on a daily ba
sis,” Presley said.
Carden echoed Presley’s sentiments.
The longer he worked as a police officer,
the more apprehensive he got, he said.
“ You’ve got to use your common sense
because people will kill you. They don’t
care if you have a police uniform on.”
don’t want to see Oliver, Antwan and
other children succumb to a life deter
mined by crime, drugs and violence.
And they are doing something about it.
Hargnm Center
The William M. Hargraves Recreation
Center, located at 216 N. Roberson St.,
offers programs designed to assist children
like Oliver and Antwan make better life
choices than some of their peers.
“If some kids didn’t hang out here,
they’d be doing drugs or selling drugs,”
said Kecia Hargraves, a 15-year-old fresh
man at Chapel Hill High School. “It keeps
them out of trouble.”
The Path Choice Program invites suc
FOCUS
Chapel Hill police Chief Ralph
Pendergraph agreed. “These people put
themselves on the line quite often.”
The danger factor puts Pendergraph in
a difficult position.Hesaidit was tough for
-him to put people in danger because he
cared about them.
Working in a College Ton
Capt. Gregg Jarvis, who is in charge of
support services for the department, said
Chapel Hill presented a unique set of cir
cumstances to work under.
With its wide variety of cultures, its
combination of affluent neighborhoods and
public housing projects, and the presence
of the University, Jarvis said, “It’s a differ
ent kind of place to police, and it takes a
special kind of officer.”
He said there were not many communi
ties this size that could handle 30,000 people
in a one-block area and deal with it well.
And with events like Halloween and the
NCAA championship celebration, crowd
control has become somewhat of a spe
cialty for the Chapel Hill police.
Jarvis cites successful management and
planning as keys to the relative ease with
which the force has handled these events in
the past. He said one of the force’s top
priorities was to make sure that when big
crowds happened, they happened safely.
He said he thought the officers and the
students had a mutual respect.
“I think it’s areal positive relationship,”
he said.
In addition to his
regular duties as a
police officer, Jarvis
also serves on the
Chancellor’s Com
mittee for Greek Af
fairs, a position that
requires him to deal
with students on a
regular basis.
He said that the
police recognized the
collegeas “partofthe
vitality of this com
munity” and avoid
ed an “us against
them” attitude to
ward the students.
Pendergraph said
the police actually
felt somewhat duty
bound toward the
students.
“We feel like be-
cessful members from the black commu
nity to talk to children on the first Saturday
of every month.
“Path Choice is a role-model program
where we bring in speakers to talk to inner
city youths about how they prepared for
their careers and what and who inspired
them,” said Evelyn Dove-Coleman,
founder of the Path Choice program.
“It encourages a path of life that is
crime-free, illiteracy-free and drug-free. It’s
about following one’s mind instead ofpeer
pressure.
“Every community has bad problems
with crime and drug usage and under
education. We’re looking for a way to do
something about it.”
Dove-Coleman said previous speakers
included doctors, lawyers, nurses and pro
fessors. Carl Fox, Orange County district
attorney, will speak in December.
Dove-Coleman said the program had
been a success.
“I think children’s responses have been
favorable,” she said. “They meet people
they ordinarily wouldn’t have a chance to
meet. Some of these kids will be saying
these kinds of things in the future. The true
benefits are down the road.”
Nate Davis, facility manager of
Hargraves, agreed: “I think it really helps
kids a lot. You find kids who feel like there
is no use in trying. They feel that they can’t
accomplish anything.
“With people speaking to them about
their success, it changes their outlook on
life.”
Antwan said Path Choice was a valu
able program. “It was cool. We did skits.
He told me things to make me think I have
a chance."
The Path Choice Program is not the
only effort made at Hargraves to alleviate
the problems that young people encounter
on a daily basis.
The Mission In Excellence For Stu
dents of the Future is a program that offers
after-school tutoring for at-risk and minor
ity students who are experiencing academic
difficulty. The sessions meet three times a
week.
“We’ve seen vast improvement in the
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Chapel Hill public safety officers such as Joe Uyton and Russ Woody try to improve relations with community
members by taking time out to visit neighborhoods and listen to residents' concerns.
cause of the large number of students we
have here, some of whom have not yet
totally acclimated to the independent
lifestyle, we have a certain responsibility,”
he said.
He said the police couldn’t help but care
about the welfare of some young
community members when their
parents were trusting the police to
assist them in making the transi
tion to life on their own.
Jarvis said most officers had
been college students themselves,
so they understood what the
lifestyle was like.
He said he thought this ability
to relate caused the department to
exercise control in a manner dif
ferent from that of many other
departments. Forexample, Chapel
Hill police make very few arrests
at football games compared to
other college towns, he said.
“Our policy has always been to arrest as
a last result,” Jarvis said.
He said this policy had enabled the force
to cooperate more with students and to
devote more time to more serious crime.
Presley said college students often could
be perceived as a nuisance at night, but he
added, “I think officers realize there are
20,000 people living in this town and that
only a small percentage of them are break
ing the rales.”
Of course, officers can get sick of ex
plaining to students on weekends that they
children,” said Esphur Foster, who is on
the board of directors for Mission in Excel
lence . “All of the children but one returned
from last year.”
Antwan said he had improved academi
cally since he started attending the pro
grams.
“The Mission in Excellence helps me a
lot, ” he said. “I was slow until I got into the
program.”
In addition to the Path Choice Program
and Mission in Excellence, the Hargraves
Center offers an after-school program for
children in elementary school, special func
tions for Halloween and Black History
Month and occasionally teen dances.
Davis is trying to open the center on
weekend nights to give children an alterna
tive place to have fun while keeping them
off the streets.
“A lot of them hang out,” Davis said.
“If they had more to do, it might keep them
off Franklin Street. If there were more to
do for kids, it would help the problem.”
Davis, who has worked at Hargraves
for more than 20 years, said he had seen
many children turn their lives around due
to the efforts made at the center.
“I’ve seen a lot of kids come through
hereandbetterthemselves,”hesaid. “I’ve
really enjoyed doing it.”
Piae Knoll* Community Center
Hargraves is not the only center in
Chapel Hill for at-risk children.
Pine Knolls Community Center also
offers programs to keep children out of
trouble. Pine Knolls holds arts-and-crafts
classes, cooking classes and field trips to
roller-skating rinks and other places.
“Pine Knolls has been effective, ” school
board member-elect LaVonda Burnette
said.
“The basic activities that we take for
granted, they might not have the opportu
nity to do. It is essential to the success of
young people.”
Burnette, 22, is a living example that
these programs can succeed. Shewasraised
in Chapel Hill and attended Hargraves
summer camps in her youth.
“It was great, and there was a lot of
are being arrested for intoxication, he said.
He said most students in these situa
tions were mostworriedabouthow it would
affect their future. This concern probably is
behind students’ low repeat-offender rate.
Jarvis said students simply needed to
Chapel Hill Crime Statistics
Dnjgatrests 168 205 +22 percent
Homicide 0 0 same
Rape 27 38 +4l percent
Robbery 61 104 +7O percent
Aggravated assault 189 240 +27 percent
Burdary/break-tn 671 609 -9 percent
Larcenf " ' 1,063 1,878 +1 percent
Motor vehicle theft 107 95 -11 percent
SOURCE CHAPEI'hHX POLICE DEPARTMENT
realize they could have fun and enjoy col
lege life without overstepping the bounds.
Reaching Out
Teaching students how to avoid cross
ing that line is a full-time job for Matt
Sullivan.
Sullivan, who works with crime preven
tion and community relations for the
Chapel Hill police, said outreach and un
derstanding were keys to maintaining an
open relationship with area youths.
Sullivan is working with elementary
love," she said. “Nate (Davis) was there.
We were one big, happy family. This place
has had a tremendous impact on my life. ”
Burnette said her 6-year-old daughter
would attend Mission in Excellence and
other after-school programs.
Some community leaders said that when
individuals assisted the disadvantaged in a
community, the effects were tremendous.
“There is no substitution for commu
nity center programs,” said Ralph
Pendergraph, Chapel Hill chief of police.
“They are the most effective programs in
high-crime areas. They provide early inter
vention for kids. Kids need this.
“They look out and see things that are
negative. If they want to be what they can
be, they need supervision.”
LUt Mm'* Southern Kitchen
While community center programs fo
cus on proactive solutions to abating the
problem of crime, some efforts have been
made to assist adults who already have
been through a struggle.
Lizzie Mae Collins has a philosophy on
how to stop crime and drug use.
“It’s like teaching a bird how to fly, ” she
said as she looked up from her Bible in her
empty restaurant. “Once it learns, it can fly
on its own. We just need to love.”
Collins has tried to make a difference in
the lives of people whose lives were dic
tated by crime since she opened Lizzie
Mae’s Southern Kitchen on Aug. 21,1992.
Collins knew seven people who had
been mired in a life of crime and drugs. She
said society had given up on them.
She wanted to deter them from this
lifestyle, so she gave them jobs at her res
taurant.
“One reason I own the place is to put
money back into the community and to
help men and women get their lives to
gether,” she said. "I want to help them be
better than they are now.”
Collins serves fried chicken, macaroni
and cheese, collards, combread and other
Southern meals from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Lunch costs $5 and dinner is $5.50, but she
makes an exception when people are un
able to afford her prices.
Wednesday, November 17,1993
and secondary school students to ensure
that their voices are heard. Through pro
grams like Drag Abuse Resistance Educa
tion and Thursday’s teen speak-out, the
police are making efforts to find out what
is on the minds of youths.
The speak-out was extremely
positive, both for the children in
volved and the officers, Sullivan
said. “Everybody left with a posi
tive, upbeat attitude.”
By holding speak-outs and in
formal lunch-time talks in schools,
Sullivan hopes to get the message
across that police are approach
able and willing to listen.
To counter the charge that
police “just don’t understand,”
Sullivan and his fellow
officers visited neighborhoods
regularly to see what went on in
young people’s daily lives.
Sullivan said his goal was to
develop a mutual respect and empathy
between youths and the police, a vital facet
of what he termed “community policing. ”
“You spend a lot of time out in the
neighborhoods just developing trust.”
And trust is the bottom line, Sullivan
and his fellow officers said. In a commu
nity where drugs, violence and crime are
becoming all too prevalent, officers need to
be able to count on the leadership of com
munity members and students when it
comes to making Chapel Hill a safe place
for students and natives alike.
l)m/RONN TAYLOR
Lizzie Mae Collins has tried to help
people through her restaurant.
“If they come in and say, ‘Lizzie Mae,
I got a dollar,’ then I give them a piece of
combread and some greens and fill them
up,” she said. “It gives them some pride
paying for it. I make them feel like they’re
human.”
Collins admitted that the business was
struggling. She could not afford to pay the
other employees and must operate the
kitchen by herself.
“I started out workingwith seven people,
but things went downhill," she said.
“I’m going through a hard time and
trying to make it work. I can’t afford to
advertise. I can buy food and keep trying.
I wish I could give everybody a job.”
Collins, Davis, Foster, Dove-Coleman
and other members of the community have
dedicated countless hours to deter children
from crime and improve their lives.
Collins summed up their efforts best.
“People turn a deaf ear to their dreams, ”
she said.
“Together we stand and divided we fall.
I want to make a difference in the commu
nity. That’s my dream.”
5