By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

Joplin’s historic Murphysburg district is drawing special attention from police due to complaints from residents regarding a steady pedestrian traffic of undesirables through the neighborhood.

Nancy Morton and her husband, Bob, in the 100 block of South Sergeant Avenue, are one couple who have had their fill.

Bob recently watched out a window of their home astounded as an intoxicated man trespassed into a neighbor’s yard in broad daylight, shed his clothes and defecated on the ground, his wife told the Globe.

In late August, the tops of convertibles they and other neighbors owned were slashed and their vehicles rifled for valuables. Beneath a pile of discarded items in the Mortons’ sport utility vehicle, they discovered a bottle of Mojito drink mix that the culprit, or culprits, took from a refrigerator on their back porch.

That’s closer to their home than the Mortons care to have the undesirables coming.

“This is our neighborhood,” Nancy said. “We’re working hard to bring this neighborhood back so people will want to invest and raise their kids here.”

Similar tales abound in the district of old homes worthy of preservation efforts. One couple say a man entered their home and left with their computer while they were in the house.

Mark Callihan, who lives in the 100 block of South Moffet Avenue with his wife, Paula, said most of the foot traffic is people who don’t live in the district and think nothing of trespassing.

“I don’t know if it’s the economy or people are just lazy,” he said. “But there’s a lot of people out just walking around.”

The Callihans even bought a ramshackle house to the south of theirs and tore it down to put an end to the unwanted traffic it was generating in their neighborhood. But, now, people just cut across the empty property with impunity, Callihan said.

Find solutions

Neighborhood concerns led to a Sept. 4 meeting with the Joplin Police Department, which police Chief Lane Roberts described as constructive.

“They didn’t show up to crucify the cops,” Roberts said. “They were there to talk about the problem and find solutions to it.”