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| | | Shooting spawns changes on 6th Street NE | | November 05, 2009 | | | | Staff Writer | | A midday shooting on Columbus Day in front of J.O. Wilson Elementary School has crystallized efforts to combat crime in the gentrifying area of Near Northeast just off the H Street corridor.
Spurred by resident outcry and the Capitol Hill North Neighborhood Association, city officials have addressed several crime-related concerns since the Oct. 12 shooting. It was the second shooting in the neighborhood in as many days; a shooting the day before on 10th Street NE also worried residents.
Now officials have prohibited parking on the 6th Street side of J.O. Wilson, a spot where neighbors said drug dealing from cars was common. And Anne Phelps, the advisory neighborhood commissioner for the area, is collecting residents’ signatures to establish Residential Permit Parking on the 1000, 1100 and 1200 blocks of 6th Street to prevent out-of-neighborhood cars from parking there.
Nine alleged nuisance properties in and around the 1000 block of 6th Street are being investigated as possible drug-dealing havens. Two of them are Section 8 public-housing properties, and a housing official said assistance to those tenants would be terminated if they are found to be involved in drug activities.
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs is also investigating 63 alleged vacant properties, 15 of which have been tagged as “Class 3” properties to be taxed at the high vacant-property tax rate.
A community meeting on the changes Tuesday night attracted a litany of high-placed city officials: Mayor Adrian Fenty, the directors of the D.C. Housing Authority and the regulatory department, Police Chief Cathy Lanier, 1st District Police Cmdr. David Kamperin, representatives from the Office of the Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney’s office.
It was the third time in the less than a month that the mayor visited the neighborhood around the school.
“What you’ve got to do from time to time and place to place is shift gears and put a little more effort in,” said Fenty, who stayed at the meeting for about a half hour to answer questions.
Residents have also been concerned about truant students wandering around the neighborhood during the day. Kamperin said police have caught only seven truant students within the neighborhood’s borders since the beginning of the school year and nearly 300 in the entire 1st District.
“Maybe we need to crack down on that,” Fenty said. “We might just need to send the truancy van.”
And residents have been agitating for more crime cameras in the neighborhood, particularly at the corner of 6th and L streets. Lanier said the Metropolitan Police Department is studying the effectiveness of crime camera locations around the city and might move them around soon, since buying new cameras is expensive. Occasionally, the $26,000 cameras are sponsored by organizations or corporations. But Lanier said less high-tech cameras set up on private property can also help police solve crimes when they happen.
While urging residents to call 911 if they see suspicious activity or a crime in progress, Lanier said residents should rely on 311 to report general, non-emergency problems. Don’t call 911, she said, just to try to increase the number of complaints about a particular property.
“I do want to dispel the myth that if you call 911 enough times [a property] will be classified as a nuisance property,” she said.
Police also said they would look into the possibility of turning on the lights at the J.O. Wilson playground at night, though they said that tactic sometimes results in complaints about noise more than anything else.
Attendees of the Tuesday meeting, who appeared to be a mix of young couples and older, longtime residents, seemed appreciative of the attention from city officials.
“This is really what we need to take effective action,” one resident said.
Tom Madison, who is leading a 6th Street task force for the Capitol Hill North Neighborhood Association, urged residents to attend monthly neighborhood safety walks and Police Service Area 102 meetings. Information about those meetings is available by e-mailing communitysafetywalk@gmail.com. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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