Cops and neighbors

A program that helps stamp out blight and crime in targeted Des Moines neighborhoods has received a mostly positive response. Now the city wants to expand the effort.

By TOM ALEX
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
January 15, 2005

Des Moines Police Chief William McCarthy wants the city to expand a six-year-old effort that weeds out drug houses, prostitution and run-down properties in targeted neighborhoods.

City Manager Eric Anderson launched the program in 1999. It matches small teams of police and city employees to specific neighborhoods where crime and clutter are a problem.

Most major cities have similar programs, which fall under the umbrella term "community policing."

The idea is to integrate officers into the areas they cover. Anderson added city inspectors to the mix and called it Neighborhood-Based Service Delivery.

The program required no extra cost, but rather a concentration of available resources. The teams field complaints about everything from graffiti and overgrown lots and yards to stray dogs, loud music and poor drainage.

And then they do something about it.

Red tape is reduced and neighbors feel like they have a direct link to decision-makers.

"So far, so good," said Debra Carr, a leader of the Cheatom Park Neighborhood Association. "We are going to keep them aware of what's happening, and that includes crimes of violence and break-ins.

"We want a safe neighborhood. We also want help assessing what can be done about abandoned houses. We want to get them torn down."

Twenty-seven of Des Moines' 50 neighborhoods have signed up, and McCarthy thinks it's time to add the East Village and Downtown neighborhoods.

The move would provide extra security for the new science center, library, riverwalk and apartment buildings and condominiums.

"We're glad they're thinking about us, because our neighborhood includes the police station and City Hall," said Christine Paskins, president of the East Village neighborhood group.

The city initially focused on four "distressed" areas: Capitol East, Capitol Park, River Bend, and a section that includes parts of the Drake Park, Drake and Carpenter neighborhoods.

Nine police sergeants, one lieutenant and 10 community development inspectors are involved. They go to neighborhood meetings and stay in contact with leaders in each to identify problems early.

"We're not trying to run people out of neighborhoods; we are trying to change behavior," Anderson said.

Not every neighborhood group wants the extra attention.

"When we first started as a neighborhood association, we had certain problems. We turned to the city and they came out here and basically ticketed everyone," said Jerry Overman, chairman of the Garton West Neighborhood Association. "They cited me for the way I kept my woodpile. I don't even have a wood-burning stove anymore because of that."

Overman, who calls himself a big fan of the police department, said enforcement seemed too selective.

"The city turned a blind eye to the industrial area in our neighborhood and crucified the rest of us," he said. "We just don't care to go through that again anytime soon."

Anderson's program grew out of a national "broken windows" philosophy to law enforcement that focused on spotting potential problems early.

The approach is rooted in a 1982 national magazine article whose authors said broken windows, litter and graffiti send an invitation to criminals. Eradicate the invitations, they said, and crime will follow out the door.

Anderson said the idea has worked.

"One neighborhood started out talking about crack houses, and now it's talking about litter," he said.