Another Court Street neighbor wrote me to say that he was mugged here on Thursday at 9:15. This has to stop. I agree about police presence and believe the officer should move to Court and Olive, during these times. If this isn't possible, we should organize our neighbors and ask for a meeting with Chief Lewis and/or the Mayor. This will only continue if we don't speak up.

Janna- I couldn't agree more. I live on lower Court St and am watching this issue so if you can get a meeting scheduled, please post it here. We also need the victims to make police reports, so I hope people will spread the word to anyone they know who was mugged. It sounds like these incidents might involve the same boys and it's time those boys learned that we're watching, and that we will catch them.

Thomas- I've seen the same officer "watching" Wooster Square, but he is definitely not regularly on patrol, and when he is there it's only from 5-7pm that I can tell. And yes, he simply stands still on at the corner Greene St and Academy and stops drivers he thinks haven't come to a full and complete stop at Wooster Place and Greene St. Has anyone else had to hear his "tortoise and hare" story he's telling drivers (quote: "doesn't matter how fast or slow you roll through the intersection, it's still not a complete stop")?? Honestly! We're paying through tax dollars for him to stand there to give the appearance to neighbors that they are being protected, and we now see that he isn't capable of protecting the victims from his sweet spot at Greene and Academy. Time to move him to Olive and Court, and place plain clothes officers at Court and Artizan for daily patrols until these boys are arrested. This must STOP!

Sorry to hear that serious crimes are being ignored.
This clik fix site has threads two miles long about motorists not stopping for stop signs ,which is downright terrifying if one is trying to cross..Berate a violator of the offense and one can have a violent incident on their hand..but placing a cardboard cutout cop on the corner is only going to place the little crows on his shoulder

Yes, something needs to be done about these muggings. Incidentally, the officer "watching" Wooster Sq, had flagged me down and made me stop to "congratulate me" that I had observed the stop sign...

You were probably the only one that did . Did he hand you a donut ? Dance around your car throwin rice or confetti . Sounds a little like punishment for stopping , next time you'll show em huh ? I wonder just how many tickets they wrote over there ? We'll we need cops and need to pat em on the back every now and then , even though they are pretty well paid.
Is the cop there on OT ? Posing , prancing, pretending to scribble on a pad , surfing the web for on-line comments about them while-ing away the hours in lots.

MOVE OUT OF NEW HAVEN. ITS A HELL HOLE EXCEPT FOR YALE......OOOOH YAH. HOW ABOUT THE TRENDY RESTAURANTS.........AND YES RESIDENTS,YOUR TAXES ARE PAYING FOR THE TEACHERS AND THE OVERPAID POLICE OFFICERS.MOST DONT DO --IT. AND GIVE A --IT

The Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management Team is a great forum for these issues, a good way to receive the monthly crime stats, and a way to speak with the district manager each month.

The meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6pm in a meeting room at city hall.

join us online here:
http://groups.google.com/group/dwscmt

I will pass this and the other thread (http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/7714) to Lt. Sweeney and see what information can be found.

Best,

Doug Hausladen
Vice-Chair
DWSCMT@gmail.com

for more lighting, which is a great idea, talk to the property owners and if there is a city light out, report it on this website for quick repair (give address and location, ie 180 crown street, pedestrian street lamp outside of xx location)

Reporting lighting outages, and adding lighting where it is insufficient, is essential.

This section of Court Street could use more lighting. I don't live in the immediate area, but have walked across the Court bridge several times around 9-10PM at night over the past few months. The street did not feel particularly safe, and I heard of several muggings, so I now prefer the Grove-Olive route.

I agree that additional police enforcement could help, particularly if the suspects were caught. Citizens should organize and call in any suspicious activity.

Additionally, improving the condition of the pedestrian crossings along State Street (e.g., with raised crosswalks and bump-outs) would help bring more pedestrians to the area. Currently, the width and speeds along State Street discourages pedestrian activity between Downtown and Wooster Square. The more comfortable people feel walking, the more pedestrian activity there will be, which helps improve safety (at least until a particular hour of the night).

Finally, improving the conditions and appearance of the grounds along Court would help. There are some overgrown bushes and rusty fences along the Smoothie apartments. The blue housing complex is not well maintained either. There is also rubbish and graffiti on the street at times. Many studies have proven the "broken glass" theory -- when physical space is kept in good condition, crime drops dramatically. Individuals should report any issues related to public space on this website, so they can be fixed by the appropriate authority.

For the time being, it seems advisable to not walk alone here late at night, and to be very aware of your surroundings on this street at all hours. Visually scan the streets for several blocks in each direction for signs of trouble, avoid walking too close to alleyways or doorways, and do not be afraid to turn around and walk or jog in another direction if you sense potential danger. Walking very quickly and/or bicycling is also a great way to reduce the chance of a mugging or purse snatching. Of course, there are many residents who do not have the ability to do these things as well, so personal safety can only go so far.

This is a serious quality of life issue that must be addressed.

Fully Agree with Resident!
This street it too dark.

Yes, way too dark!

I was informed by the NHPD that there have been 3 robberies reported in the Court St area and that they are working on solid leads in the 3 cases.

I will let you know if there's any more information from the management team

http://www.newhavencrimelog.org/cl/choose-area/coordinates/41.30545646463239/-72.92057275772095/0.25/

Thanks, DWSCMT.

I have posted some documents to the DWSCMT google group concerning how to report street light outages, July and August crime stats, as well as a flyer for our September 15th meeting which is a meet & greet of NHPD officers - which may be of interest to those on this thread.

The latest message sent out:
http://groups.google.com/group/dwscmt/browse_thread/thread/054da8afef3c7655#

I observed police out last night making a "pat down" on two youth on bikes near olive/court. Good work PD!

So - several of the residence and neighbors on Court Street and in the Wooster Square Neighborhood agree that the Block Watch should be reinstated and revitalized - so to get things started we are hosting a meeting on September 9th at 7:00pm. We will meet at 33 Court Street unless we get to big and then we will move to a larger space (we will post notice both here and send out to the growing email list.) If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to either Karri.Brady@yale.edu so we know if we need a larger space or not and to have your email added to the list. Officer Joe Avery of the Neighborhood Services Department of the NHPD will be there with ideas and advice on how for us to best organize and to liaison with the NHPD - we will be forming communication trees as well as developing strategies in the neighborhood for how we as citizens and neighbors can best deal with this kind of crime and to do away with it in our neighborhood. Please past this on to anyone in our neighborhood who may be interested or wish to attended.

thanks DWSCMT for the info - will mention the meeting at the Block watch meeting on the 9th.

So you have juvenile delinquents carrying no weapon whatsoever demanding money from passers - by , but no threat by the "muggers" was ever made and no weapon showed. Not that i would ever do such a thing as walk up to a student and say "hand me your wallet", or what's in your wallet"? but place it in my hand." Put it here pal, all of it yo, cell too .
Oh yeah a block watch, make sure you invite everyone from your community not just those who you feel will buy the pizza , and don't just invite the residents who you feel (feel) are not guilty,

Hey Joe,
I fully agree in regards to being all encompassing with the invites.

I think you find with any of these groups that your perceived enemies are sometimes your greatest allies.

A large part of the population in the neighborhood lives just on the other side of 91, in Farnam Courts. Is there a residents association there that could be invited? I'm sure they share the same concerns. Maybe the Alderman knows?

A 25-year-old man was robbed of his backpack while walking at Chapel and Union Streets at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. He told police three men came up to him. One punched him in the forehead, causing him to fall down. The trio stole his bag, which contained a laptop computer.

From NHI, http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/08/crime_roundup_28.php

NEW HAVEN SUCKS........MOVE

Realtor groups just love you Karen. The sales commission for these contributing do-nothing agents go thru the roof. Of course the issue of bad cop / lazy cop / inept cop / selective and in cahoots cop goes just fine with Landlady thug agent who shakes the poor grad student like a leaf and practically turns the multi boyfriended hussy out onto the street.
yeah move ! Some should , some should stay and make a difference, but more should confer and touch bases with your neighbor .Make a difference. Find out just who owns your home and just how they acquired 40 of those homes . Oh that you know
Yeah move but keep your New Haven home as rental property. Move but sell it yourself. Stay and call 911 until the police get it right. Stay and get involved with politics,maybe you will find out more about who is robbing your empty eyeglass case (see crackbabys) from your car. Stay and find out the baseheads are all in the employ of the community management team. Stay and have a nice conversation with the welfare mother next door who had 9 kids but don't know where one of them is. But can remember all of her boyfriends prison id numbers.

Karen... Thank you for your amazingly articulate insight. It really helps the discussion. Your nuanced, and highly intelligent responses are a big help in solving the problems.

On another note, last night on Court Street, I walked out and saw a woman talking to police about a purse snatching.

I'm afraid things are going to get worse while the economy in in the toilet. So we have two choices, either run away from things and lock yourself behind the false security of the suburbs like a coward, or make smart moves, like not going out at night alone, organize, and take back our neighborhoods.

Mike I completely agree with you on all counts - that is why, and you may or may not be aware - and if you are I apologize for repeating myself but it is worth repeating here - that on September 9th, 2009 at 7:00pm at the Conte School in the Library (that is the school in Wooster Square) will be the first official meeting of the Court Street/Wooster Square Neighborhood Block Watch. We will be organizing and establishing a strategy with Officer Joe Avery from the NHPD's Neighboorhood Services Department and the Downtown Wooster Square Community Management Team. As of this afternoon we have 45 people confirmed to attend. I urge you to get involved, invite your friends and neighbors and Karen as well. This will not stand in our neighborhood and we are doing something about it - please RSVP to Karri.brady@yale.edu or T.brady@yale.edu that you can attend and any other people's email address you think may be interested.

Many thanks.

Great, Thomas. I live in East Rock, but I am over on Court St pretty often at the Blue Pearl, so I might have to stop by to see what I can do to lend a hand, or at least a set of eyes. I'll spread the word as well.

MIKE ,WHAT DOES THE ECONOMY HAVE TO DO WITH CRIME IN NEW HAVEN?? CONNECTICUT IS FILLED WITH RICH FOLKS.....GO TO A JEWELRY AUCTION AND WATCH THE WOMEN SHELL OUT THOUSANDS FOR A PIECE OF JEWELRY. AND AN ART AUCTION AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS THERE....................YOU AND YOUR OVERPAID COP FRIENDS SHOULDN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT THE ECONOMY..............OUR COUNTRY INVITES WELFARE. OHHHHH COME ON OVER AND GET FREE HEALTH INSURANCE AND BRACES FOR YOUR KIDS,,,,,,,,,,AND HAVE AS MANY @#$% KIDS AS POSSIBLE. WE WILL PAY........THUS YOU HAVE THE LITTLE CRIMINALS THAT RUIN NEW HAVEN.

Karen,
Personally, I think it's pretty obvious that when there are more jobs to be had, the crime rates go down and when jobs are scarce, crime rates go up. I believe that there have been more than one study showing this to be the case. As far as your overtly xenophobic and classist statements about welfare and "free" health care being the sole cause of crime, it's frankly quite offensive, and really doesn't help solve the issue.

Personally, I think the lack of leadership from the mayor's office is ruining New Haven far more than petty, little thugs. If the mayor isn't going to do anything about it, then it is up to us as denizens of the city to do something.

And please, for the love of all things good and respectable, learn how to turn off the caps lock on your computer.

Has there been any progress on this issue? E.g., lighting, enforcement, getting the owners of the Smoothie Building to fix the property issues (also reported on the site), etc.?

The main problem (for years) is the leaders of the City of New Haven do not want to have community policing or beat cops. Each call from a mugged or robbery victim is prioritized by the dispatcher according to the dispatcher's understanding of the crime. Once the call is prioritized, it goes into a que (like a taxi) and eventually the police will arrive unless a priority call comes in. The Mayor and the police chief could do something appropriate but will not because they do not see this as important. A city as important as New haven should have police walking the beat, have triple the number of oficers out there and be making a REAL effort to PREVENT crime by police presence and knowing who the bad guys are so that those bad guys leave or straighten out. The residents of New Haven should willingly pay more to have this protection. I tried New Haven for 7 years, lived in Wooster Square and left because of the crime problems which are accepted by everyone in that neighborhood, every one is robbed, beaten, mugged and cars broken into but the residents, the police and th Mayor continue to be lazy about this and not interested to improve the quality and safety of their community.

New Haven needs a new Mayor and an experienced police chief who will step up and improve the capabilities of the police to walk the beat and be known in the neighborhoods (triple the numbers)!

New Haven mayor and police department hide behind their "block watch" program. The block watch is a great idea but when you see the crime, you make the call...it gets prioritized and nothing happens to stop the crime and the block watch programs have never given a result. I admire Tom Brady, I was there 7 years ago and tried to also "believe" but the block watch is a mask to cover the budget problem and lack of interest by the leaders of New Haven to really address crime and crime prevention. Liberal New Haven residents do not push the system, the mayor or the police chief, they complain only when their house gets robbed or they get mugged but after a couple weeks, the victim re enters his/her life and accepts the fact that crime is part of the daily routine in New Haven....Very lazy attitudes are the cause! Stand up and push the Mayor out and push the police chief out if they cannot remedy the problem which they have known all about for years and have also accepted it (and have no confidence in themselves to fix it)!

I would appreciate more cops out on foot. I see an overwhelming police presence every time I visit Fair Haven, the Hill, or Newhallville. I find all of the patrol cars rather intimidating, like I'm entering an occupied territory. All the patrol cars everywhere make me feel like I must be doing something illegal. I'd feel much more willing to trust the police and feel like they were on my side if they actually got out of their cars and walked around a bit rather than only getting out to arrest people or supervise roadwork.

(By the way, why is it necessary for police to supervise every bit of roadwork or utility work in this town? Perhaps there's some essential function they are fulfilling, but I have trouble seeing why this is necessary. I've always assumed that it must be some union deal to get more overtime for cops.)

The leadership in New Haven do not bring results for major issues which affect its residents,students, visitors and the children who cannot chose to move. Residents have become immune to the risk that their "time is coming" for being mugged and robbed, hosue broken into, shot. Students are the prey of the criminals whom are everywhere, nothing like having visitors to come to Wooster street for a nice meal and returning to their car to discover the window broken and things stolen (in broad daylight even) and the children who cannot easily pay in the parks because of the drug addicts, drunks and homeless who lay there and do business without any concerns of law enforecement. If a resident calls the police, they merel move them along or transport the addict to a hospital who releases the person an hour later. Under the I-95 bridges live all of the homeless without any challenge by New Haven leadership...as if it is their rights to mess up the entire city. Count the murders and crimes....all because the residents of New Haven are sitting on their hands and doing nothing to push the lazy Mayor, inexperienced Police Chief and the elected city councilmen & women to exert changes, increase the numbers of police, raise the taxes, whatever is necessary but start with growing a set of balls to make the city a better place to live.
There should be more activity by the residents!

Joe Richards:

Would you be willing to help brainstorm a list of concrete actions that can be taken to address this situation? There are a couple other threads about public safety around Wooster Square (including one posted recently by Janna) and they all have very concrete suggestions for improving it.

I see that "more foot patrols" keeps coming up here and on the other threads as one potential fix.

On a related note, I'm not sure that you have a basis for connecting homelessness to other violent crimes like muggings and murders -- if so, please post your rationale here. Are you arguing that the presence of homeless people make other citizens feel less comfortable to be outside at night, which thereby increases opportunity for criminal activity?

It sounds like if large numbers of homeless are living under the highway overpasses in other parts of Wooster Square, that should be reported on a separate "ticket" on SeeClickFix so that the community can organize for action on that as well. It would be helpful to point out the specific locations and times of day. New Haven has a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness, if that is what you are talking about.

I'm sure that someone from the city homelessness collaboratives would be willing to weigh in and work with neighbors on potential fixes to this if you report a separate "ticket" and forward it along as public documentation.

I know that the Downtown-Wooster Square Management Team is trying to work on mobilizing the neighborhood around problems like these, and that they pay attention to all the ideas posted here.

Want to start a list of specific suggestions and next steps?

To Mark (who has requested that I provide concrete actions). I only have One concrete action which is necessary before all of the other ideas will work. It is related to the operating philosophy of the NH police department being centralized rather than community based. Concrete action is to get community based policemen assigned to each neighborhood including beat cops.

I admire the initiative to get all of the neighborhood involved so that more eyes, ears and vocal chords will report more crimes and activities....the problem you will observe eventually is that when anyone makes that telephone call to prevent or report a crime...that call goes into a dispatcher who is working under procedures that are not community based but central police based concept so that telephone call will be prioritized according to life threatening (top priority) or placed in a que which basically goes unresponded to until the policeman is freed up. This operating system by New Haven Police is what works for the budget they have. Go to other cities who are more serious about preventing crime and you will see that community based systems which dedicate police in each neighborhood, they walk the beat, they ride the bicycles, but they stay in the neighborhood they are assigned and they know and listen to the residents and when someone calls the police, the dispatcher knows which policemen to contact for that area. This costs more but it works better than what goes on year after year in New Haven and the leaders there are not motivated to change anything or they would have by now. If you tackle this core problem to change the operating systems of the NH police department, then your second level programs for community watch groups will succeed.

I may respond later to the homeless situation which is yet another symptom of poor leadership in NH.

This system is enabling the police to remain unaccounted for and unaccountable. They always seem to drive in the other direction of the call and crime scene. The known hot spots are just ignored until the big priority call comes in. An old hat issue with them was to let them have their way and try to make the big bust, vain glory. Some cops chlk up many minor arrests and feel a promotion would not be in the cards for that. Then fellow officers snickr and the public places a moniker on the sadist cop who throws homeless unfortunates in jail for sitting on a park bench.
The suburbs were supposed to be paying some sort of fair share to the city for their residents who use the shelters and other many services available to them. A good percentage of the homeless are from the surrounding communities. You can see some ladling te schlop (mmm but warm and hearty)
to the folks. But boy do they toot their horn about that

Again, I am hopeful that all of this great community effort can be focused first to demand changes in the New Haven Police Department's operating systems towards a community based policing and no more centralized system which obviously is not working. After so many years of excuses, the Mayor should be ousted because his crime prevention failed and will never work as long as the police department continues to be dysfunctional.

There should be hundreds more policemen in New Haven, assigned to the neighbors and downtown and the residents paying for it. Residents should know by name the policemen for their area and then community watch program will be effective.

From the New Haven Independent. This all seems to continue.
At 8:15 p.m. on Thursday, four men mugged someone at the corner of Court and
Olive Streets. Two of the muggers had handguns. They took a cellphone and a
black wallet with $25. Please FIX!!!!!!!!!!

The level of armed robbery in New Haven is alarming and unacceptable. Families and employers are going to remain reluctant about moving into New Haven from the suburbs if the crime can't be suppressed. Maybe the police should be more aggressive about stopping suspicious people in the streets and patting them down for guns. Aggressive policing helped in NYC. You can't have a vibrant economy and fully-functioning civil society when people are constantly in danger of being assaulted in the streets. One of the chief differences between New Haven and similarly-sized/-educated cities that are outperforming it economically (Boulder, Ann Arbor, Cambridge, Chapel Hill, etc.) is the level of crime.

My crystal ball predicts that there will be murders on Court Street soon. Enough mugging, the bad guys will take it to the next step and use their guns...whay not, there are no efforts by the police to catch these criminals. Residents should ask themselves why it has taken so long.

Ahhhh... yessss...maybe another crime watch meeting will make everyone feel good. That always works, bring in the spokesperson for the New Haven Police and let him say nice comforting words....over and over and over.

New Haven residents voted for the same mayor so they do not have to expect change. This Destafano will not budget the resources to "prevent" crime, he knows the residents of New Haven do not expect him to improve the living conditions and safety of its residents.

With Destafano as mayor, no reason to believe the Police Chief intends to "prevent" crime, he is working with the budget he has and either does not have the eggs to push for bigger budget or is satisfied that the statistics are not high enough (statistics come from reporting crime).

As long as the residents do not report crime, the statistics cannot justify remedial measures and city management will focus on other than policing and crime prevention.

When there are more police in New Haven, more police walking or cycling "the beat" in these troubled areas, the criminals will be caught and the residents and children will be safe in New Haven.

Until such time as the criminals move to a difrferent "feeding ground", I suggest that all persons walking on Court street should wear a bullet proof vest and carry a pistol with 2 clips. Also, when you get mugged, report it to the police and state that you heard a gun shot (so that your call will become prioritized and police will come in 45 minutes)

Any progress on the code enforcement issue, AKA, the property managers at Smoothie not giving a rat about the neighborhood?

Good to hear there has been some forward movement on the lighting, but that's not enough.

From issue 11211: "woostersqwatch wrote about 1 hour ago
We had a terrific response from the NHPD. We have installed a camera and lights are coming on the Court Street Bridge. Also, the law office and the Smoothie Building got their parking lot lights on which has helped tremendously. We have not had an incident since Christmas Eve."