Ben, that is an excellent question. I am also interested to hear Chris' input on the best solution.

What happened to routine patrols in problem spots? The 911 call got us three cruisers nearly instantly and a total of seven in a few more minutes. This leads me to think there are officers available...

Seems like policing time would be better spent being proactively visible in hot spots rather than search for all the shells with flashlights in the rain.....They could also just use See-Click to plan their nightly interventions!

I agree with neighbor who needs sleep. The cops are not visible until you call them in New Haven. I have yet to see a reasonable argument for the lack of social interaction between cops and citizens in New Haven.

The “Big Picture” solution is to legalize ALL drugs and have them sold with the same regulations, taxes, etc. as other potentially harmful/addictive “recreational” substances, i.e. cigarettes and alcohol. The fact that tens of thousands of deaths worldwide are directly attributed to America’s “war on drugs” is shocking. The waste of life that results when low-income, mostly urban minority kids get sucked into the drug trade is something every American should be ashamed of. Unfortunately, based on my correspondence with Rep. DeLauro and Sens. Blumentthal & Lieberman, the general opinion in Washington is to maintain the status quo.
Because of the Federal government’s intransigence on this issue, the “Local Picture” solution obviously is more complex and inevitably incomplete. But here’s where I’d start:
1.) Provide significant incentives for police officers to live in New Haven. (Years ago it was a requirement that police officers reside in New Haven, but this requirement was declared illegal.) Early this morning, after my wife called 911 re. the shooting on Greenwich Ave. & the police arrived, I immediately went outside and talked to the police. I only saw one other neighbor do so. Yet I’m sure there were people with a better view of the shooting who saw more and could have told the police more. With a resident police force I believe more people would have been willing to speak up. Unfortunately in many neighborhoods the police are viewed suspiciously as a foreign occupying army. And, in a sense, they are.
2.) New Haven’s prison re-entry program is a step in the right direction. However, as you can read in today’s [Aug. 7, 2011] New Haven Register, it’s had minimal impact on recidivism: http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2011/08/07/news/doc4e3ec602ab19e840260940.txt?viewmode=fullstory
As one of the interviewees in the article points out, job interview skills are worthless if no one will hire ex-offenders. A New Haven ordinance requires that a certain percentage of city contracts go to minority contractors. So why can’t there be an ordinance that requires contractors working for the city hire a certain number of ex-offenders who have “paid their dues to society” via prison time served, and now need a chance to change their lives?
3.) Neighborhoods themselves need to create more programs that connect neighbors with one another. Yale’s Urban Resource Initiative Greenspace is an excellent example of such a program, but requires outside funding which is increasingly scarce. And not everyone has an interest in plants. However, the upcoming Greenwich Ave. Labor Day block party [details to be announced] is an example of a neighbor-initiated activity that costs the city nothing and merely requires people to show up.
I view this post as merely the beginning of a discussion, and hope more readers will contribute additional, creative ideas and thoughts.
Chris Schaefer

Do the reports of gunshots create OT for the force ? Watching a big reaction , mostly a late reflex , to major gun spray is suspicious.

I agree with Chris that this is a problem of not enough police connecting with neighbors first and foremost.

It is hard to remember back so far - but it seemed like when there were community policing foot patrols, we had less drug dealing and less armed violence. Not so long ago, we had police cars parked in the dead end of Second Street.

Interestingly, last night was one of the quietest nights of this hot summer in the neighborhood. None of the kids and teens were outside.....do they know something the police don't? When is the payback for the incident on August 7th?

Well am I the only one that herd all the gunfire last nite!

Near what cross streets/intersection, Charles?

Chris,

Did you call the police when you heard the gun shots? The sooner the police are notified, the sooner they can get to the scene and PERHAPS have a better chance of catching those who are responsible.

There are too many people sitting back complaining instead of doing something as simple as picking up the telephone!

My wife called 911 instantly; I went out & talked to the police as soon as they arrived. (See my excessively long post from yesterday.) I agree: too much complaining, not enough action or sharing of constructive ideas. BTW, I hope no one interpreted my lengthy post yesterday as "police bashing". My criticism is not of the police, but of a system that allows for most of its police force to reside outside of the city it serves.
A frequent criticism of contemporary policing is that the police show up AFTER an incident: there seems to be very little crime deterrence. So the police dept. has morphed into just another "emergency service", similar to the Fire Dept. which shows up after a fire breaks out. Having a non-resident police force is only one contributing factor to this evolution. As Thommye points out, citizens also need to be much more proactive. Given current economic realities (which are going to translate into continually shrinking municipal services), neighbors need to take on more responsibility for their neighborhood. Everyone should have the police non-emergency number programmed on auto-dial into their phones: 203-946-6316. If you live in the "Hill" police district, you also should have Lt. Holly Wasilewski's number 203-687-0529. She's the district manager.

On bit of good news: I've noticed that the owner of the car shot out in front of 382 Greenwich Ave. has not been around since the incident. This morning the owner of 382 [John Pirtel aka "382 Greenwich Ave LLC"] told me he already had begun an eviction against her due to lengthy police file on her.

So the owner of a car that is parked in the shooting vicinity , who may have had one or more windows shot out , has not been seen by this certain reporter (opinion piece?!) ..has not been seen out and about ? The owner though has confided in you that he/she/group of investors has started an eviction action - due to a lengthy police file on her ?? Not due to her criminal record which may or may not exist ! A personal special file that the police have based on their hunches, so as to what ? So as to get involved ? With landlord tenant affairs , or are they taking this woman personal ? A real Bonnie Parker eh ? - Qualms ,maybe she has called the police on police relatives like i did ..

Has this issue been addressed at this location?

I agree with Christopher on the issue of resident police officers (and city employees more generally). If you look at Census data, it shows that the surrounding towns have a far higher % of population employed as police officers than New Haven does. This is in part because almost all of our sworn officers live in the suburbs. There is definitely a correlation between where officers do not live and where violent crime is common. Yale offers huge incentives to its employees and as a result a much larger share of them live within the city than city employees do.

"A woman flagged down Officer Jillian Knox to tell her a man had shot someone—and pointed to the SUV in which the man was fleeing." This is the REAL key to ending the violence: residents who are willing to ID assailants and help the police capture them.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/serious_shooting_man_caught/
This heroic woman helped get another murderous thug off the street.

Sept. 6: an attempted robbery @ Third St. & Hallock AV--with use of a firearm:
http://www.newhavencrimelog.org/cl/daily-report/2011-09-06/

Assault with "dangerous weapon", 142 Greenwich Ave. @ Sixth St., Oct. 12, 2011 http://www.newhavencrimelog.org/cl/daily-report/2011-10-12/

shot up vehicle on Sixth St. http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/134997-grey-honda-accord-with-bullet-wounds

armed robbery attempt on Third St. Sept. 6 http://www.citypointnewhavenconnecticut.net/monthly_police_log

Armed robbery on Hallock Ave., Oct. 10 http://www.citypointnewhavenconnecticut.net/monthly_police_log

Armed robbery with gun, Howard Av, near #151 on Dec 12, 2011; armed robbery with gun, Hallock Av, Dec 19, 2011: http://www.citypointnewhavenconnecticut.net/monthly_police_log

No shootings or armed robberies in this area in 6+ months. (Also, according to police chief, when people call to report hearing gun shots, such incidents rarely are solved.) So I'll close this for now.