THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601140048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
They are fighting more than just crime in this city of slightly over 100,000 people.
There also is a battle to create a new image for a city that has developed a reputation for being the most violent in all of Hampton Roads.
Those two goals are linked for 61-year-old Reggie Allen, who has committed himself to both for most of this decade.
And when he says he has ``staked my life on it,'' he is not exaggerating. A civic league president, Allen patrols the city by car as part of the Brighton-Prentis Park neighborhood watch program.
Allen remembers a time last year when one of the cars used by the Cavalier Manor neighborhood watch patrol was riddled with bullets, believed to have been fired by local hoodlums.
That did not stop Allen from committing as much as 24 hours each week to patrolling the sometimes-dangerous streets.
It's a spirit that Allen and others want to spread throughout Portsmouth, beginning next weekend at the Hunt-Mapp Middle School on Willett Drive.
That's when Portsmouth will hold a ``Crime Summit'' intended to generate citizen support for a city in crisis.
The summit will bring together police, municipal leaders and citizens, hoping to solve a problem that threatens not only the lives of Portsmouth residents but also the long-term prosperity of the city. The summit, open to the public, will run from 1 to 6:30 p.m.
Organizers hope citizens from all over the city will attend and suggest solutions for Portsmouth's crime problems.
Those include Hampton Roads' highest murder rate during 1995, the region's highest violent crime rate, and public housing communities and other low-income neighborhoods infested with drug dealers and users.
But part of the fight has already been won, says Anne Lyons, program administrator with the Portsmouth Community Services Board and an organizer of the Crime Summit. Admitting that there is a problem is half the battle, she believes.
``I really believe that Portsmouth is one community that is much more willing to face its problems more openly,'' said Lyons. ``Sometimes that can hurt, but if we face it openly and directly, we are much more likely to come to some resolution.''
Lyons, who was born in Norfolk and lived for several years in Virginia Beach, chose to move to Portsmouth. She lives in the city's Westhaven section with her husband and 13-year-old daughter.
``I feel very safe here and have never felt differently,'' Lyons said. ``I invite my friends over to Portsmouth whenever I can. It's a great place.''
But even Lyons admits that last year's record number of homicides - 37 - was an enormous human tragedy that has hurt the city's reputation and forced a re-evaluation of municipal priorities.
Such bloodshed cannot be tolerated, Lyons said.
``I am very concerned about the loss of life and what those people could have added to the community,'' Lyons said. ``That is my primary concern.''
Lyons helped develop the concept of ``community summits'' as a method of addressing problems that affect municipalities. Portsmouth has held them for several years to address successfully such problems as drug use and teenage pregnancy.
The summit concept has received some national recognition, and recently Lyons helped spread the idea to Richmond, where it was used to brainstorm ideas to improve public housing communities.
``I've always believed in the principle of partnering citizens with governmental agencies, and the summit is a real way to achieve this,'' she said. ``It is kind of overwhelming to see bureaucrats working side by side with citizens.''
The idea of a Portsmouth crime summit came from Anne Green, president of the city's crime prevention steering committee, and Sgt. Steve Jackson of the Police Department. They were inspired after reading about City Councilman Bernard Griffin's attempts to create a dialogue on Portsmouth crime.
``That's when we contacted Anne Lyons,'' Green said.
Part of the summit will be for informing citizens about the Police Department's community policing program: Neighborhood Enhancement and Action Teams.
The NEAT program assigns police officers to neighborhoods where they become well-known and integral to community life. It's a concept that is gaining national acceptance as crime rates drop nationwide, especially in cities such as New York and Philadelphia.
``We are real excited about what NEAT is doing and excited about what people in the neighborhoods are experiencing,'' said Deputy City Manager C.W. ``Luke'' McCoy.
Every month, McCoy, who overseas the Police Department, meets with NEAT officers and city department heads so policing problems can be continuously addressed at a municipal level, where real action can be ordered.
McCoy said the real centerpiece of the Jan. 20 summit will be to brainstorm ideas to further improve the policing of city streets and extend the fight against crime.
``We are working very hard over here, and we are really trying to work together as a community,'' McCoy said. ``We are trying to build the image. When you build the image, you change the perception. We have a wonderful community, and we want people to know it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
GARY C. KNAPP
Portsmouth activists, from left, Anne Lyons, Reggie Allen and Anne
Green, hope the Crime Summit will improve their city's image.
Graphic
CRIME SUMMIT
WHERE
Hunt-Mapp Middle School, 3701 Willett Drive
WHEN
Saturday, January 20, 1 to 6:30 p.m.
INFO
399-5261
by CNB