Publication Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2004
EAST PALO ALTO
City can't shed violent past
City can't shed violent past
(April 14, 2004) New efforts are mounted to protect neighborhoods, drive out drug dealers
by Don Kazak
East Palo Alto should be enjoying some well-earned congratulations. Shoppers flock to the big IKEA store on weekends, ringing up sales that directly help the city financially; construction on a long-awaited Four Seasons Hotel has begun; and there's renewed talk of building a supermarket in the community.
But there's a shadow hanging over the city's incipient success -- violence. Residents marched through the streets of the city last week, decrying drug-related violence that people fear is increasing. There's been one homicide so far this year and X shootings.
A survey taken for a local nonprofit agency recently revealed that two-thirds of East Palo Alto residents polled feel unsafe walking the streets of their own neighborhoods at night.
"This is the first time a survey like this has been done," said Alejandra Herrara of the research firm that conducted the polling for One East Palo Alto.
The survey results were sobering for a city that celebrated its 20th anniversary last year on an upbeat note.
The survey included 384 households from One East Palo Alto's service area, which covers about one-third of the city's 10,000 residents.
In response to what people say is a growing presence of drug dealers and violence, One East Palo Alto has formed 12 block clubs to unite neighborhoods. Block clubs, which are similar to neighborhood watch groups, were once popular in the city but faded after the violence of 1992 -- when 42 homicides occurred.
Part of the plan calls for "rolling block rallies," a Saturday event where the street is blocked off and police visit with residents.
"It disrupts crime" and upsets the drug dealers, said Stewart Hyland of One East Palo Alto, who is coordinating the block clubs.
One East Palo Alto has a $100,000 grant this year from the Hewlett Foundation to form the clubs. The group hopes to create 18 such groups by the end of the year, Hyland said.
The block clubs meet regularly with patrol officers to discuss specific neighborhood issues and point out houses where drugs are sold. In addition to giving information to the police, the block clubs encourage officer involvement.
"People want to get to know the officers better," Hyland said.
"The block clubs do work, and they are a vital part of what we do," said Police Chief Wes Bowling.
The block clubs also got a strong endorsement from San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley, whose department has a three-officer street-crime detail working in the city. He said his officers tell him the block clubs have been helpful. Still, the city's current violence rate is discouraging.
"I'm not happy with this getting worse," Horsley added.
"The police can't fix it all, and the block clubs can't fix it all," Hyland admitted, saying there needs to be more educational and job training opportunities for young men to keep them from turning to the lucrative money of drug dealing.
Meanwhile, another effort is underway to bring peace to the streets.
A group of 30 ministers have banded together to form Ministers Action Outreach, said the Rev. Bob Hartley, who helped organize the group last November after a shooting outside his house.
Hartley said the ministers have a "pastors on patrol" program where they go out to drug hotspots. "It's been surprisingly effective," he said.
Dennis Scherzer is one of the people concerned about a resurgence of drug-related violence. Scherzer, a longtime anti-drug crusader who got groups of residents to patrol the streets at night in 1992 and make it harder for dealers to do business, thinks things are taking a turn for the worse.
"It's definitely better than 1992, but it's bad," Scherzer said.
"There has been an increase in violence on the streets," Bowling said. But he also noted that he only has the staffing to do "the bare minimum" of what's needed to keep a lid on the violence. The department has only 37 officers on staff right now, despite the fact that the city budgets for 42.
The five positions have been frozen because of budget constraints.
"Citizens of East Palo Alto have long been concerned about crime," Mayor Donna Rutherford said. "We've come a long way since 1992, and the crime has decreased."
Don Kazak can be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly.com
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