Residents, police join forces

September 21, 2008 10:33 pm

— 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.”
Roberts turned the issue over to a special enforcement unit team dubbed Residents and Police for Innovative Deployment, or RAPID. The unit includes a traffic team, school resource officers and the department’s bike patrol.
“(RAPID’s) purpose is to identify the underlying causes of crime and solve the problem, not just treat the symptoms,” Roberts said.
Morton said she sees the underlying causes of Murphysburg’s problems as an inordinate number of people up to no good traveling the neighborhood’s alleys at night. Low-rent housing in blighted areas surrounding the district contributes to a high percentage of people with alcohol- and drug-abuse problems among the foot traffic, she said. The availability of liquor and beer at commercial outlets on nearby West Seventh Street exacerbates the problem, she said.
Many residents of the neighborhood already have home-security systems and some are adding video-surveillance equipment to assist in law enforcement, Morton said.
Cpl. Ryan West, supervisor of the RAPID team, said Murphysburg’s ills call for “a multifaceted approach” that entails an analysis of crimes reported in the neighborhood, a search for patterns to those crimes and cross-checking information on suspects possibly involved. And a step-up of police presence, he said.
“Police bicycles are a good way to address that,” West said. “Since we started doing that we have made several arrests.”
District residents say they’ve noticed the step-up in both officers on bikes and patrol cars in their neighborhood. Callihan said he realizes law enforcement is a two-way street.
“I think people here have got the impression there’s no need to call the police because they won’t do anything about it,” he said.
He said his experience this past month has taught him that’s a perception that’s not fair to the Police Department and can be changed by residents’ action. He said if the police chief and officers are willing to try to make a difference, he wants to help. Consequently, Callihan recently got appointed to the department’s Civilian Advisory Board.
The Murphysburg Residential Historic District includes Sergeant Avenue from First Street to Seventh Street and Moffet Avenue from First Street to Fourth Street.

Beginnings
Patrick Murphy, a former Joplin mayor, purchased 40 acres in 1871 covering what is now First to Fourth streets and from Main Street to Byers Avenue. The area was named Murphysburg but in 1873 it was merged with Joplin City and incorporated as Joplin.)
Source: www.4statearts.com

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