July 3, 2008
Citizens meeting with Police Chief on July 8, 6pm
There will be a meeting with Petersburg Police Chief John Dixon III on how the citizens can assist the police towards a safer community. The meeting will be July 8, 6:00pm at Christ & Grace Episcopal Church, 1545 S. Sycamore Street, upstairs in the annex.
Cool, I hope he recommends the Neighborhood Watch program, maybe Walnut Hill can get it going again. I understand there used to be one but…..
Forgot about this until our newest addition to the department (who lives in Walnut Hill) mentioned it today. She also mentioned that their neighbor JUST had their home broken into and a lot of items stolen.
This is the type of information that a Neighborhood Watch or a Neighborhood Message Board would help get out to your fellow residents - especially given the current, limited information that the City reports on their site?
“What the citizens can do to assist the police towards a safer community”??? I don’t believe the citizens are the weak link. The main problem lies with inept prosecution followed closely by severe understaffing in the PD complicated by a totally incompetent and ineffective dispatch unit. Examples: March-July 2008. A rash of vanlalism, theft, attempted burgleries and othe mahem in the McKesson Farm area of Walnut hill was reported to the PPD. Citizens monitored and observed three individuals that were observed directly commiting these crimes and called police. Officers responded to talk to witnesses and agreed to meet with citizens the next day to question the suspects. After several cancelled meetings with one of the officers (who had to change shifts), dispatch was called to obtain the name and contact information of the second officer who had responded to the initial attempted burglery call to arrange meeting with him instead.. Dispatch had no record of the call and no idea what we were talking about. Not even an incident report. After several weeks the attempt to meet with officers was abandoned. Some neighbors followed the individuals and discovered a place where they appeared to be “stashing” items on Monticello St. at Fleur de Hundred. Further research led to the recovery of copper guttering from a local salvage yard and a description of the individuals who cashed it in. The guttering had been stolen from a residence on Monticello. The individuals have been identified and are still being monitored. Police involvement= ZERO. Not even a record of the offense.
This histiry of ignorance goes back many years. My first involvement with direct assistance to the police was almost 20 years ago. A drug house began operation on Mount Vernon Street. The Neighborhood Watch and most of the nieghbors began watching them closely and complaining regularly to the PPD. I contacted the PPD drug enforcement taskforce and allowed them to utilize my upstairs office to observe the illegal activities. I also took hundreds of photos and turned over the film to the task force. After months of open drug dealing out of that location, the crisis finally ended when one of the dealers was arrested for murdering a Ft. Lee soldier in a robbery. Fortunately that incident took place in another jurisdiction and the killer/drug dealer was caught within hours and convicted. To my knowledge, no charges were ever brought in Petersburg.
Between then and now, there have been far too many examples of the same lack of response to issues large and small by the PPD. During the great blackout following hurricaine Isabel a vehicle traveled trough this area firing a weapon on two separate occasions. Neighbors got the license number a vehicle description and called it in to PPD dispatch where they were told coldly and rudely that “the PPD doesn’t take lisence numbers and chase down cars on peoples’ say-so!” After several calls with no response we began calling the state police.
There have been others but my favorite was when my truck and garage was broken into and I called the PPD, an officer came to my home and started off by saying he had only 14 minutes that he could devote to my call by department policy. Secondly, he asked for a list of all items taken and serial numbers. When I told him I was still working on that and wasn’t sure how much had been taken, he informed mi I should have taken care of that before I called. “Gee”. I said, “I thought you might want to be informed as soon as possible, you know, since the criminal might still be around or something”. He said his time was up and advised me that I should get that list together and check pawn shops to see if my stuff gets turned in. On the way out to his car (it wasn’t one of those really mean looking Dodge Chargers so I guess his incentive was pretty low)I told him I was going to rob a bank the next day, and, I was pretty sure I could avoid capture for at least 14 minutes so don’t even show up here 16 minutes after the robery and think I am going to go peacefully off to jail. He laughed. I guess he thouhgt I was kidding.
Anyway, “what can citizens do to help the police department?” I’d have to say what havn’t we done. Especially regarding the group the chief will address tonight. In that audience there won’t be any delinquent tax payers, the cars in the parking lot will all have valid city decals, they will be insured and driven by licensed drivers. And, if the chief looks at the property assessments (as I have for many hours) he will find that these citizens have just incurred reassessments that are from 50-100% higher as a percent/change over other areas of the city. There are no delinquent water bills although there are many owed credits from the city to those who use garden meters that have never received their credit adjustments. And yes, until recently, there was a neighborhood watch and a Neighborhood Association Security Committee until the PPD ignored them right out of existence.
So, tell us what we can do (when we are already policing ourselves, paying more that our fair share of taxes and getting nothing in return)?
I, for one, am willing to contribute 40 or more volunteer hours a week to the PPD, Prosecutor or City Manager for as long as it takes to get where we need to be. But that offer only applies if the effort is described as tearing it all down and starting over. I will not however, give one second to any activity that resembles business as usual.
PS: Don’t worry! When I do get aroud to robbing that bank, I will investigate it myself–just like I’ve always done.
I know this is probably the wrong place, wrong thing to say but….it’s this type of information and posts like the one GiGi (I think it was her) made about getting to the point of NOT extolling the virtues of Petersburg to potential residents that seriously has me questioning whether it’s worth my efforts (albeit meager) to work on things with the city - i.e. dog park, community gardening.
I mean if people have been trying for 20 YEARS to get something done with no noticable results, what is my impetus to waste my, personal time doing anything for Petersburg? What is PETERSBURG
CRAP fast, fat finger typing!
…What is PETERSBURG doing to make ME WANT to live here? Honestly, I am, and have recently been wondering if moving out of Richmond was a huge mistake. At least for the taxes (lower per $100 of assessed value at least) in Richmond, we had KICK ASS services…IMHO…compared to what I’m getting from Petersburg.
Will it change? Possibly. Maybe. Hopefully. At what point to people just cut their losses and say ‘Screw it…I’m outta here?’
Hey Chuck I will be honest with you. Until we bring in NEW blood to run this city most things will remain the same. The mindset of many here has nothing to with progress in the city. If you look around 60% of the citizens are above 50 years of age, and cares more about what happened in the yester-years as oppose to the future. How do you see a future past 10 years when you are 60 plus (most of our leaders).
Ask the question to any leader that is not new to the area. Where are their children and could their children make a life here by both living and working here in Petersburg, and watch them head for the hilss and duck your questioning as though it was the blast that created the craters in the NBP area.
Many people think that Petersburg is being PROACTIVE in their stance of development. I on the other hand think they are REACTIVE as to being the last one to make a move in its planning.
I say this because they are not actively out seeking companies to come to the area, they are awaiting phone calls, and if you look at those very same business that are coming here they are service type business. Not that anything is wrong with that but with two colleges in the city and over 15 within a hour surrounding the city we should be pushing that effort to bring in corporations to the area.
We need to stop discussing and displaying the level on intelligence or lack there of an focus on these institutions that are putting out some 1000 plus student each year into the work force, that is what being progressive and proactive about not highlighting the bad, and using that as your excuse.
Put some of these other projects on hold. There was no need of a metro station in the middle of downtown when no one comes here, there is not need to develop a riverfront when there is no one able to operate of protect the land. Put the money into the schools, the police, the fire dept., and so many other agencies. Bring there pay up to the median of other, and then we can start developing a promising future for Petersburg.
So to say all that Chuck don’t leave yet, help us at least get those out that not thinking of the future out of ffice first.
hrmmm
B - is there a size limit on comments? I’ve tried to post my notes twice and they don’t show up….ah well…I’ll send them to you directly.
Hey Chuck — No size limit that I know of. Why the notes wouldn’t go up is a total mystery to me.
That said, happy to post the notes you sent via email:
Thanks Brenda! Saw the news piece on channel 6 this AM. I know a Progress Index writer was there, he was talking to the gentleman behind me that did the great stand up piece at the end. Need to see if there is an article on the meeting there too.
I attended the meeting last night with Chief Dixon. Was not impressed. I was one of only two or three people present who have had direct experience with the police department and with local crime recently. All of us shared the same concerns, mainly that there is very poor response to complaints, no public reporting of crime and or corresponding actions taken by law enforcement to address crimes. Of notable concern was the issue of prosecuting crimes that result in thousands of dollars of damage as petty theft– as long as the criminals received only small sums of money for the items they stole. Example: Copper gutter systems stolen from buildings they netted less than $100 are prosecuted as petty theft even though fabricating and installing the system cost thousands. (I’ve changed my mind about robbing that bank–instead I think I will steal Casandra Burns’ private automobile and sell it for $25. Do you think I’ll be prosecuted for petty theft?)
There were also the usual “plants” in the audience to help deflect difficult questions. One lady insisted that all of us who were not satisfied with our responses from law enforcement weren’t doing enough to establish “a personal relationship with Casandra Burns, like [she] did”. And of course, L. Christian with the usual “can’t we all just get along” speech. What really shocked me was that I seemed to be the only one there who does not feel that a “personal relationship” with any public official should be necessary to get said official(s) to do their job.
Something that I found especially surprising was the reactions by Chief Dixon to questions regarding the budget issues for funding PD vacant positions. After some prodding, we were told that all positions were funded by council–a fact that I have not been made aware of. Further questioning of the chief revealed that the funding is current–not future allocation and he can actively recruit and hire as soon as candidates are screened. Can anyone confirm this? I must have missed all news of that development.
What I did hear from the chief that I liked was his aparant dedication to the officers that actually do the job. I agree with his contention that salaries need to be competitive in order to attract good candidates and benefits need to be sufficient to retain those candidates after they are hired. So apparantly the first steps are being taken. But just as important is establishing defferent relationships with the other aspects of law enforcement so that officers can not only do their job but see results from their efforts. What we did not hear is that the chief will build new aliances based on policy and rule of law instead of politics. I’m sure, or at least I hope, the he has seen enough already to know that those issues are a serious threat the his success. And, I am equally certain that he would be hard pressed to publically address that can- of-worms at public meetings. So, we can only hope that his heart and mind are totally in law enforcement and that he has the persuasive abiliy he will need to overcome the stagnant political atmosphere that paralyzes this city.
I’d like to say at this point that I support him completely in his efforts but it is too early to say. We’ve been here too many times before. All I can say for now is Good Luck! I hope this is the one.
When is the Chief going to live in the city as he is required to? and where is his child going to go to school?
I know that he needs to live in the city within 12 months. Do we know when the clock started ticking? I am fairly certain he has not purchased a property within Petersburg. He owns several properties in Richmond, and apparently it is his belief that he can still send his children to school in Richmond. This must be special treatment… I pay 3 private school tuitions and STILL own property in Richmond, and I am unable to enroll my children in Richmond Public Schools.
I think his dedication is directly correlated with bring his family to Petersburg.
re: “…What is PETERSBURG doing to make ME WANT to live here?”
This is a question a lot of people ask themselves. How I currently answer it for myself: I try to work toward a few projects of interest that would help make the city a more attractive place to live, and I also carve out opportunities to enjoy quality time outside of Petersburg for sanity/stimulation/positive energy/more youthful take on the world sake. Hopefully, some sort of best-of-both-worlds balance is the result. As for what the city itself is doing to make folks want to move/stay here, the efficiency review should be a catalyst that helps the city find ways to deliver improved service levels.
In (partial) response to GiGi’s question, I can say that the Chief has at least been *looking* at the purchase of a property in the City. I met him as he was looking at the house next to mine. I don’t know if he has purchased or rented here, however (and the house next to me is still vacant, if anyone is interested!).
Also in response to GiGi, I met the Chief when he was looking at two houses in Centre Hill several months ago. I know that he didn’t buy either of those homes and isn’t living in this area.
True, fairness is fairness, but I really never understood the whole “the guy has to live in the taxpayers’ neighborhood” thing.
I mean, what matters is: is he effective? Does he get crime down? Do the police and justice system actually track-down and convict criminals? Do his customers, the taxpayers, feel they get good service for the money?
I, for one, would think it very reasonable, if he DOESN’T get crime down, to call for his sacking. But whether he lives here, or puts his child in PPS should be totally indifferent. What if he improves the PD, but doesn’t think the schools are improving… should he and his child be punished for a job well-done? What if he runs a tight ship at the PD, but thinks petersburg taxpayers are being raped by the PPS? Should he be forced to subsidize failure? If so, just how qualified of a police chief do you want?
That said, I would think it in his best interest to at least live here. He needs to be able to rush to places here at a moment’s notice. Being a police chief is a very political job. Many in petersburg will not see things the way I do, and will want to know if he thinks he is “too good for us” if he doesn’t live here.
“There were also the usual “plants” in the audience to help deflect difficult questions. One lady insisted that all of us who were not satisfied with our responses from law enforcement weren’t doing enough to establish “a personal relationship with Casandra Burns, like [she] did”. And of course, L. Christian with the usual “can’t we all just get along” speech. What really shocked me was that I seemed to be the only one there who does not feel that a “personal relationship” with any public official should be necessary to get said official(s) to do their job.”
To be fair though Gary, Mr. Christian did bring up the bit about a registered sex offender out on the corner near his children’s school that was selling drugs and what were the plans to deal with things like that. Honestly I did agree with his speech….if we cannot deal with our own differences and come together as a community, it will make the job of law enforcement officers much more difficult.
Who is Cassandra Burns? I have no idea (I guess that’s kinda sad but…..) I’ve never heard that name before myself.
I don’t think it unreasonable to expect the citizens to assist in “policing” their neighborhood or take an active interest in building a relationship with officers at all. Personally if I had to deal with two citizens A) A grouchy person who berates me for being late to their call, not doing enough, “I pay your salary!”, yada yada or B) Someone who thanks me, is kind and appreciative, and is able to be helpful (persons description, vehicle make, etc.) I am going to be more inclined to deal with person B – right, wrong, or indifferent that’s the reality.
Maybe “personal” was a bad choice of words. I don’t expect these folks to be drinking buddies or come to my children’s birthday party (eh unless they wanna) but I do really think that building a working relationship with the people that are there to protect & serve is a good idea. Maybe I’m strange in that but, and I know I tend to fall back to this but, in Woodland Heights (Richmond) we had several policeman that lived in our ‘hood and the neighbors would do things like invite on/off duty beat cops to neighborhood block parties, take the local firehouse or precinct a big pot of spaghetti or a cake, etc.; things that showed that we appreciated them for their efforts on our behalf. OMG you would be amazed at the reaction you go taking over a big pot o’ chili – I mean they were astounded that people wanted to pay them back. These people risk their lives for us on a daily basis; I for one don’t mind showing them some gratitude.
I’m rambling…sorry. Dad was a cop in Petersburg, Son is a cop…..I guess I’m a bit more sensitive than others.
Ms. Burns is Petersburg’s Commonwealth Attorney.
re: relationships…Gary is not describing person A’s experience vs a person B’s experience, as you define A and B — surly vs. sweety. Rather, his point is more along the lines that if one does not have the time or inclination to build relationships with say Ms. Burns, that person should expect no less professional or timely service than someone who bakes cookies and passes them out to all the titles in town (holding the surly/sweety thing constant). Or so it my take.
They (council & agency people, including public safety) never seem to get it that social climate and lax enforcement have a lot to do with crime. If people are running illegal group & boarding houses (including setting up a bar and serving alcohol to the street in one case) that pretty much tells the criminals that anything goes in Petersburg. Or, maybe they do get and like it the way it is.
There are so many examples of violations going unpunished it would be entertaining if one were not involved in it. Kinda like Deadwood in the 1870’s I guess.
Ahh okay that makes sense then B. and I agree. I shouldn’t have to kiss ass (forgive my bluntness) to get the same treatment as a tax paying citizen. I just got the impression from some of the folks there that they just had serious issues with the police and I know a little civility goes a long way.
Like the one lady said, the squeeky well gets the grease - but it sounded like certain squeeky wheels get the grease more than others….wait…I think I just answered my own question/realized where they were coming from.
Ughhh - very long day dealing with PhDs that I swear could not find their way out of a paper sack…..
Hey Chuck, great notes, thanks!! I feel like I was there. I had no idea about the increased funding, I thought council just caved on more overfunding to the school administration (otherwise known as political patronage), and left the police underfunded. Great notes.
“…wicked tired.” Are you from upstate NY?
JWM,
“…never seem to get it that social climate and lax enforcement have a lot to do with crime.”
Something about a nail being his squarely on the head comes to mind…
re: Upstate NY. Nope, born and raised in Chesterfield but I did live in Syracuse for a little over a year…does that count? =)
“Syracuse for a little over a year.”
Hmmmm…. I’m not sure. How do you refer to the american war that took place in the middle of the 19th century?
I heard your use of wicked (meaning ‘very, very’) last month when I was vacationing on lake champlain. “It gets wicked cold here.” It was the first time in a while.
With the magic of flickr, I can even show you the place “wicked” was used:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/1254479340/
Spoken by the new owner “Helen” of the oldest diner I have ever seen. It has wooden wheels and was pulled to the present site by horses. It has a marble lunch counter and simple, stained glass windows.
Helen is concerned about breaking even with her fuel costs in the winter…
As one of the organizers of our July 8 meeting with Chief Dixon and a newcomer to Petersburg, I would like to thank all of those citizens who attended. Also, the lucid comments about the meeting should be helpful for those were not present.
Above all, I would like everyone to appreciate that this is the opening volley of outreach and action that many of us newcomers are planning. The chief kindly directed us to staff within his department who can assist us in the future. Knowing where the bodies are buried, so to speak, is critical in getting an agency, in this case, the police department, to become responsive.
Other obvious objectives for the future include massive change in the constitution of the city council and the mayoral staff, which as one commentator noted, are more rooted in the past than in the future. This will require organization in each of the political wards to identify and support citizens who want change that focuses on principals that will manage their schools, teachers who will teach, and citizens helping youths that are coming from broken homes and, who without new direction, will become problems of the future, public safety and a progressive community that attracts and retains businesses that provide significant employment opportunities.
I got the impression from last nights council meeting that there is some confusion as to whether or not Chief Dixon and the police department actually got the funds for salary increases.
From my notes at his meeting on July 8:
‘It sounds like the issue with the PPD budget getting a bump to fund officers salary increases went through. As Chief Dixon stated, Council “funded what I asked for” so that they would be “matching other localities salaries for existing and incoming officers.” He indicated that now he would have no problem retaining officers or filling the 20+ vacant positions. He stated they currently had about 60 applicants for those positions.’
From notes at last night’s council meeting:
During discussion of Councilman Ross’ proposal for salary increases for firefighters (item 8c on the Meeting Agenda for July 15, 2008)
Mr. Canada stated that they “have not actually made changes to the police department budget other than previously approved city raises” or the across the board increases that ALL city workers will receive. He also stated that they “cannot actually identify the amount of increase that police will get” and that they had not identified where the additional funds would come from. During this he mentioned state-wide budget cuts that would equal ~ $550K for Petersburg and made mention that they had not yet come up with a plan on how to distribute those budget cuts citywide.
I got the impression from Chief Dixon that the additional funding was a done deal and that it was for current and incoming officers to permanently increase their entry level salary as well as bump others up to be competitive with surrounding localities.
“Curiouser and curiouser!”, cried Alice.
The flyer handed out prior to the meeting mentioned, I believe, getting some type of anti-littering law in place but, while trying to find the number to call for property’s with high grass (if you have seen that property at Mars St. and Jefferson St. you know what I mean) I came across this - so, it looks like there is already an anti-littering bit in the City Code. Is there a difference between it being part of city code and a law? Gah, hope that doesn’t sound stupid…
§30-2. Littering generally.
No personal shall dump, throw or otherwise deposit any trash, garbage, refuse or other unsightly matter on any street, highway, right-of-way or property adjacent to such street, highway or right-of-way, or on any other property, public or private, within the city, without the written consent of the owner of such property or his agent.
re: “I got the impression from last nights council meeting that there is some confusion as to whether or not Chief Dixon and the police department actually got the funds for salary increases.”
This is the third comment that I’ve encountered TODAY (before 2:30 PM) regarding a (curious) confusion when trying to interpret the varying versions of funding for city salaries.
Do you think something is up?
Info from a high ranking police officer that I received just yesterday is that starting salaries are raised to $37,400 (I wrote that figure down, anyway, so hope I didn’t transpose any #s!) but that the Police Dept is now 30 OFFICERS DOWN and that it is not possible to train that many new at one time, so I guess we will remain understaffed for a bit as we play catch up.
Question which is important for the future - did the pay scale get officially changed to show the increase in starting salaries? Is it in writing ANYwhere in the City code?
Honestly I find $37,400 just a little hard to swallow…what’s that almost $10K? I mean Chesterfield (with a significantly higher tax base) starts their pre-certified officers at $38K and Richmond City is starting theirs at $36,500 so I’m not sure if I believe the $37,400 as a starting here in the ‘Burg.
Don’t get me wrong - I would be SUPER happy for those guys but I just don’t know if I’m drinking that kool-aid.